The Mysterious Moogle
by koalababay
Summary: Yuffie stumbles upon a moogle on her way home from the store. Literally. She has no clue whatsoever that this tiny little moogle might just change her life for the BETTER! Reffie
1. Enter the Moogle

_**The Mysterious Moogle**_

_One: Enter the Moogle_

"AND DON'T EVER COME BACK, YOU ROTTEN TROUBLEMAKER!" the greasy storekeeper shouted as he chucked a stale loaf of bread at the ninja's head. He had been chasing her throughout the entire store until they eventually reached the main doors again. That was the point where the ninja saw her chance to escape Mr. Big-Fat Ugly's rant.

She turned around and stuck her tongue out at him after she dodged the stone-hard loaf of bread. _Damn! That brick could've done some serious damage if it would've nailed me. _She wiped the invisible sweat from her brow with a sigh._ Eh, the silly fat man was just overreacting. At any rate, I guess it's a good thing that I didn't end up buying anything there! _

"Who knows what other crap they're trying to sell at that dumpy joint!?" she laughed to herself.

Yuffie had been sent on a grocery run to pick up some ingredients for the cake Tifa was making. It was going to be Marlene's birthday as well as her party tomorrow. Tifa had been panicking about what she was going to make for the appetizers, who was coming to the party, and what she was going to give the soon to be 10 year-old as a gift. It was really starting to grate on Yuffie's nerves.

_I don't know why she's making such a big deal about it. It's gonna turn out dandy just like everything else she plans for…and Marlene's gonna love the party!_

"Aw, little Marley's getting so old!" Yuffie said to herself, crossing her arms. "It seems like just yesterday I was teaching her and Denzel how to pick the locks on all of Cloud's lockable belongings!" She started to skip and whistle an off-key tune as she turned in the direction of the bar.

When Tifa asked her to go to the store for her, she said yes right away. Anything was better than staying in the bar with a stressed Tifa who was acting like a crazy chocobo with its head cut off. Plus, _Reno_ seemed to always be at the bar now, bugging the crap out of everybody there. And Yuffie didn't want to deal with his failed attempts at pursuing Tifa today.

"Stupid Turkey," she muttered, shaking her head in exasperation.

Yuffie was _convinced_ that Tifa was the next beautiful woman on his long list of conquests. And when he put his mind to something, he never gave up until he got what he wanted. Yuffie could only hope that in this case, there would be an exception. She felt like puking her guts out every time she pictured the Turk and her best friend together.

It was truly a surprise to everyone that Reno had even managed to come to the bar everyday without getting his skull mashed in by Cloud yet. Yuffie guessed that ever since the whole silver-haired trio deal, Cloud had been on better terms with Shinra and the Turks. That didn't mean that Yuffie had to get along with them, though!

_Well, I do work with them a lot in my reconnaissance field for the WRO. Rufus is pretty sexy, I guess, and at least he's not trying to destroy the world with draining all the mako from it anymore!_

_Hmm, and Elena's actually become a pretty decent friend! And Rude is…well…Rude is just Rude. What more is there to say for him?_

_Reeve's an okay boss, I have to hand it to him. He's a very smart guy and he gets done what needs to be done…He just kinda creeps me out a little with his fetish for robot Cait Siths._

_So out of everyone in the new Shinra building, Reno is the only one that I CANNOT stand! Pfft. How did that work out?_

There was just something about Reno that drove her crazy. She didn't know what if was for sure, but the feeling was definitely there. _Oh, well. I'll just ignore the dumb Turkey when I get back!_

She stopped skipping suddenly. "Wait a minute! Why am I in such a hurry to get back to the bar? Tifa's just gonna chew me out, drunk Turkey will side with her because he'll take any side that isn't _mine_, and Cloud will back her up 'cause he's…well, her _secret boyfriend._" She let out her infamous cackle, "Nyuk nyuk nyuk." _No one knows that _I _know about their secret little dates! Nyuk. The Great Ninja is very observant!_

"Who aw yoo tawking too?" a little boy with a huge lollipop in his hand asked her. When she whirled around and gave the little boy her trademark glare, he stuck the candy in his mouth to stifle his scared little squeak. He instantly looked down at his feet so he wouldn't have to make eye contact with the ninja.

Poor guy. He was just curious. Maybe a little too curious for his own good, though.

Yuffie put her hands on her hips and huffed. "Have you been following me, kid?" He shook his head quickly. She sighed and squatted down so she was face to face with the tiny kid. "It's not okay to eavesdrop, you know!" She laughed as a sudden thought came to mind. "Well, it's _only_ okay if you're a great ninja like me, but you're obviously not, so…skedaddle, little dude!"

"Okay, lady! Buh-bye!" he smiled and waved at her with his free hand before skipping away, and Yuffie noticed that he was missing all of his front teeth. _How can he possibly eat a lollipop when he has no teeth? Dumb kid…_

She groaned and slapped her hand to her forehead. "Kids," she muttered. "I have no idea how Tifa dealt with Marlene and Denzel when they were younger. They were _so _annoying!" She sighed again. "Speaking of Tifa…she'll probably be wondering what's talking me so long. I better get back before I get lectured…again!"

Yuffie turned again to make her way back to the bar, but the next thing she knew, she had tripped over something soft and landed face-first on the hard pavement. "What the hell!?" She twisted her body around so she could see what had done the Great Ninja Yuffie such a huge offense.

Her eyes were greeted with a stuffed animal. A very cute stuffed animal at that. It was pink, fuzzy, and fairly small. Yuffie mentally berated herself. _How the hell did I not notice that there?_

Suddenly the stuffed animal twitched slightly, and the violet wings on its back started to flitter. "…K…Kupo…"

"Oh, my gawd. It just moved." Yuffie got on all fours and carefully crawled over to where the thing was laying. When she was right next to it, she gave it a forceful poke, emitting a loud _"KUPO!" _from the tiny creature. Yuffie squealed in fright and flinched backwards, landing on her butt.

The creature's limbs started rustling around. It looked like it was trying to get up. _Is it really alive? _It bolted to its feet and whipped around to face her with an inquisitive look. Er, what Yuffie _thought _looked like an inquisitive look. It tilted its head to the side and stared her down.

"What _are _you?" Yuffie asked, then shook her head slowly. "Nevermind. You probably can't even understand me, can ya?" She giggled at the creature's expression. Its head was still tilted to the side, which caused the giant, red pom-pom attached to the antenna-like appendage on its head to droop to the side too. Yuffie giggled when she saw a pink bow tied to the base of the antenna. _So maybe it's a girl fluffball, then?_

She shook her head again and finally took in the complete sight of the cute little creature. It had a fairly large nose that was same size, shape and color as the pom-pom on the top of the antenna. There were whiskers on either side of its nose, which would twitch every now and then as the creature took in new smells that drifted by them with the wind. Its eyes were squinted so tight that it looked like they were shut, but Yuffie could only guess that it could probably see just fine. The stuffed animal-like creature seemed to be staring directly at Yuffie.

_Waitaminute! This is a moogle. Real. Alive. Staring right at me for no reason. Oh, wait, I tripped over it. That's why it's staring at me…but still! If it didn't look so realistic, I would think that it was another one of Reeve's robots. I wouldn't put it past him to send one after me just to see what my reaction would be. _She sighed dramatically. _He's been around me too long. His love of pranks and jokes almost rivals mine now…_

Yuffie stood up and brushed the dirt off her shorts. "Sorry, little guy. I didn't see ya there!" She patted the moogle on the head. _Wow, it's softer than I thought it would be._ "I gotta go now! Bye!" She waved and turned to get back to the bar as fast as she could. _I'm so late. Teef's gonna freakin' kill me._

She felt an odd sensation on one of her legs as she tried to walk. She stopped and looked down, jaw dropping when she took in the sight. The moogle had latched its stubby little legs around her leg in some sort of an attempt to get her to stop walking away from it. "Wha…?" Yuffie lifted her leg in the air and tried to shake the moogle off, but its grip on her leg was strong. "What do you want?"

"Kupo." _Aww, it's voice is so high-pitched and cute and…What are you saying, Yuffie!? Snap out of it! I have to get back to the bar! Time's tickin' by._

"I don't know what you're saying!" Yuffie sighed. "I _don't_. Understand. Moogle." She emphasized each word in the hope that maybe the moogle could comprehend what _she _was trying to say to it.

"Kupo!" The moogle said more forcefully that time.

Yuffie slapped her hand to her face. "Okay…since all you can say is _kupo, _we're gonna play a little game, okay?" The moogle nodded its head slowly. "Whoa, you understood. Okay, that makes this easier!" Yuffie pumped her fist into the air happily. "Nod once if you are _really_ a real-life moogle right now, but twice if you're a robot or something else." The moogle gave a quick nod. "Nod once if you're a girl, twice if you're a boy." Another nod. Yuffie clapped her hands together once and rubbed them together. "Alrighty! Last question. Are your Mama and Papa Moogle gone or something? That must be why you're here, cutting off the circulation to my innocent leg." It was wrapped so tightly that Yuffie could feel the reverberating _pitter-patter _of the moogle's heartbeats.

The moogle looked down sheepishly and let go of Yuffie's leg. "Kupo," she stated with one nod of her fuzzy little head.

"Aww…" An unexplainable emotion began to eat at Yuffie. Her stomach started to feel kind of funny and her throat felt tight. She sighed. "Do you…wanna come home with…me?"

The moogle looked up and Yuffie could've sworn that she saw a small smile on its furry face. She nodded in response to the question. Yuffie sighed again. "Okay, well you need a name. Oh, and then maybe on the way I can think of a legit story to tell Tifa on why I came home with _you _and not the _groceries_ she asked me to get." The moogle nodded again. "Do you mind if I just named you?" The moogle shook its head.

_I can't believe that I'm having a conversation with a moogle. I didn't even think they existed anymore…except for that one on Cloud's summon materia, but _that's_ different. _"Fine, I'll name you Moogliabamona…no…how 'bout Kupo? No, I would get confused as to why you were always saying your own name, then. Hmm, Moomoo? Selkie? Mocha? Duchess? Mogki? The Great Ninja Yuffie's furry apprentice?…No, that's too long." After each and every suggestion, the moogle looked more and more annoyed. Well, as annoyed as an adorable moogle could possibly look. It didn't matter anyway because Yuffie didn't notice. "I got it!" Yuffie shouted triumphantly. "Moggy. How's that sound?"

The moogle nodded happily and wrapped its pudgy little limbs around Yuffie's leg again. "Kupo," Moggy sighed.

"Geez, for a little moogle, you sure are heavy." She swung her leg back and forth several times, but Moggy wouldn't budge. "Can't you at least climb on my back? I can't walk with you hangin' on me like that!"

"Kupopo!"

The next thing she felt was Moggy crawling up her back and coming to rest on top of her head, wrapping herself in Yuffie's dark hair. The Great Ninja groaned, "_What_ have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

**A/N:** Hey, if you liked this, send me some feedback in reviews! I'm planning on continuing this unless people think it's completely awful. ^0^ (kupo!)


	2. Nice to Meet You!

_**The Mysterious Moogle**_

_Two: Nice to meet ya, Moggy!_

Yuffie moaned, scratching her cheek and wishing for more time. _Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. _Exhale. _You'll be fine, Yuffs. Just lie like you always do. Teef'll believe you…unless Chocobo-head is there. He _always _knows when I'm lying for some reason. Damn him and his freakishly spiky hair and-_

"Yuffie?"

_Oh, damn. I haven't thought of anything yet!_

"Aren't you going to come inside?" It was Tifa. She was at the door with a huge bag of trash in her hand, getting ready to take it out to the garbage can outside. She had one hand on her hip and she looked amused, not angry. "Hey, wait a minute…where are the groceries I asked you to get?" Okay. _Now_ she didn't look as amused.

Yuffie laughed nervously. "Well, you see-"

"And _what _is that in your hair?" Tifa looked puzzled as she took in the sight of the moogle curled into a ball on Yuffie's head. Who could blame her, though? It _was_ kind of an odd sight. Especially considering that it was Yuffie with the unidentifiable thing in her hair.

"I can explain…let's just go inside," Yuffie urged with an innocent smile on her face. _I got this. It's all good. Nothing can go wrong…keep smiling. _Yuffie walked into the bar and took a seat on one of the barstools as she waited for Tifa get back inside from taking out the trash. She sighed. "What am I gonna tell her?"

"Hmm. How 'bout you start with the truth, Princess?" a smooth voice drawled from behind her.

She didn't even need to turn around to know who it was. "Oh, great. Turkey's here _again_. Whoo-freakin'-hoo. I am so excited I could actually scream." Sarcasm was dripping from her every word.

Reno laughed. "I bet I could get you to scream my name more than ju-" He was interrupted by a stinging slap to the face by Yuffie to get him to shut up.

"You are such a pervert." Yuffie turned back around and started to strum her fingers across the counter erratically and impatiently. "Ugh, I _so_ need a drink right now."

Reno took a seat next to her, rubbing his still-stinging cheek. "Babe, it's two in the afternoon." He snuck a sidelong glance at her to gauge her reaction. _He always annoys the hell outta me just to get me to snap. I'm not gonna give him the satisfaction of my overreaction. Not today, at least._

"That never stops you, does it?" Yuffie monotonously replied. _Eat that, Turkey._ Reno could shove his stupid word games up his ass for all she cared. She wasn't playing.

Reno tapped his chin with his index finger in thought. "True, but at least I'm of age." He cocked his head to the side challengingly.

Yuffie snapped her head to the left to glare at him. "I'm 21! Good try, Turkey." _Idiot. He thinks he's so damn smart, but he really just makes himself look stupid when he---URGH! Just ignore him._

The Turk sighed. "Okay, let me rephrase that. At least I _look _like I'm old enough for a drink." He smirked with a nod.

Her jaw dropped in anger. He just dared to insult her appearance. "I-…You-…Oh, shut the HELL up, Turkey!" She'll get him later. For sure.

He smirked triumphantly. "What? No comeback from the ever-so-eloquent princess?" He rested his chin on his hand and leaned closer, scrutinizing her all the while. "I am truly shocked. Usually you never shut up."

Yuffie shook her head slowly and took a few calming breaths. _Must. Not. Kill. Stupid. Turkeybrain. Must NOT. That would get blood everywhere and then Tifa would have to yell at me for something else…_

"Okay, Yuffie. Time to explain." Great. Tifa was back. Yuffie was just starting to wonder what was taking her so long. She needed to be saved from the Turk as soon as possible. Even, if it meant getting chewed out by her best friend again. "Oh, and Cloud's back from taking Marlene and Denzel on one of his deliveries with him," the barmaid added nonchalantly.

Yuffie groaned loudly. "Cloud's back!?" _My luck just plunged to the center of the world. This sucks. Now since Cloudy's here and he'll just _look _at me and then I'll cave into his creepy eyes. Maybe I should tell the truth? _Yuffie laughed at the ridiculous thought. _Pfft. Not if I can help it!_

Tifa walked over to the other side of the bar and started to absentmindedly wipe the counter with a wet rag. "Yuffie," she pressed.

"Okay, okay. Chill!" She took a deep breath to get herself ready to say whatever came to mind. _Damn. _Cloud just took a seat next to her. He was looking at her expectantly. _I think I'll tell them the truth this time…_

"Hey, where's my present, Yuffie?" Marlene chirped from behind them. "You did get me a present for my birthday, right?" she joked with a smile.

Yuffie waved Marlene away in indifference. "Of course I did, kiddo. I'm not the Great Ninja Yuffie for nothing!" She smirked. "I would never forget to get you a present."

"Can I open it right n-"

"No," Tifa and Cloud both cut the little girl off. Marlene just sighed and ran around the counter to help Tifa with the dishes. "Your birthday isn't until tomorrow, and we _told _you that you weren't opening _any _presents until then." Tifa's voice had a strong note of finality in it, and she was using her reprimanding tone. _The one that makes her seem like everybody's mom, _Yuffie thought with a smile.

"I know, Tifa. I was only kidding," Marlene assured her, trying to hold back a few laughs. Tifa was so tense whenever she got stressed. Marlene found it just as amusing as Yuffie did, only she was smart enough not to _tell _Tifa that.

"You never got me a present for my birthday, Yuffie." Denzel seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Everyone knew he recently developed a teeny-tiny crush on Yuffie and every time she was at Seventh Heaven, he made sure he wasn't around. _Poor guy is shy around me. Pfft. Why be shy of me? I'm not that scary…_

"Uh, hehe…I'll get ya one soon, Denz. I promise!" She gave him a real smile this time. There was no trace of forced kindness in her statement because she actually felt kind of bad for missing his birthday a few months ago. Yuffie had been in Junon on a top-secret mission for the WRO at the time, so she couldn't get out of Junon until a few weeks later. Denzel had been incredibly sad when he discovered that she wouldn't be at his party.

"Kay," he replied with a small smile. "Hey, Tifa, I'm…gonna go play on my ripplebox now!" He ran up the stairs to go play what Yuffie assumed was the newest installment of a video game system.

She shook her head slowly. "If he has a ripplebox, I don't really feel like I have to get the kid a present now," she joked.

"Yuffie, you don't have to. You know that," Tifa said with a shake of her head. Then she sighed. "But you will anyway because you're the _Great Ninja Yuffie _and you have to get the best present out of everyone. Am I far off there?"

Yuffie gave her a toothy grin. "Nope. Not at all, actually." _Impressive. After all this time, she still knows me so well. Gotta love her._

Cloud cleared his throat, bringing the attention back to why they were sort of gathered there right now. "Okay, so where are the groceries, Yuffie? Tifa only sent you there to get a few things and you came back empty-handed."

Reno felt like adding his two-cents to the conversation. "Not completely empty-handed, Spikeman." Cloud visibly blanched at the nickname. "She did get herself a new hair…thingy." His pointed to the sleeping moogle on her head.

Yuffie groaned. "This is not a _hair thingy, _Reno. It's a moogle." She reached up, grabbed Moggy from the comfortable position on her head and set her on the counter. Cloud stared at it wordlessly, Reno made a few unintelligible comments, Tifa's jaw dropped, and Marlene squealed.

"Yuffie, you got me _real _moogle for my birthday!?" She crawled up onto the counter to get a closer look at Moggy. "You shouldn't have!"

"I _didn't_." Yuffie moved Moggy a little closer to herself protectively. Marlene had a look on her face that could've possibly led to some severe glomps, hugs, and kisses for the innocent moogle. Yuffie was scared of that look. Marlene had given her that look once before. _And I never want to be on the receiving end of it ever, EVER again! _"Anyway, this is part of what I was trying to explain, but you guys wouldn't let me finish!"

Tifa snapped out of whatever daze she had been in a moment ago. "Then finish," she said. "I'm curious to hear this story now."

"Yeah," Reno added, crossing his arms and getting as comfortable as he could in his barstool. All that he ended up succeeding in was twisting the chair from side to side a few times, emitting screeches here and there from the metal. "This should be good."

Yuffie rolled her eyes and looked at the Turk. _Whoa, he has sexy eyes---What…WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING!?_ "Why are you even here, Reno? No one likes you," she snapped, trying to cover up the blush that spread throughout her cheeks after her last thought. _Turkey's not sexy…not at all…_

Reno put his hand over his heart in feigned hurt and jutted his bottom lip out. "Ouch. That hurts, babe. That hurts."

"Yuffie," Tifa reprimanded. _Here comes the mommy voice again. _"That's not very nice. Reno knows that he's welcome here anytime, even when the bar's not open." She gave Reno a sweet smile to assure him of the truth of her statement. He nodded in response.

Yuffie snorted, crossing her arms. "Geez, Teef. Is there some kind of an affair going on with you and Turkeybrain that we should know about?"

Cloud cleared his throat again, and repositioned himself in his chair. Yuffie turned her head slightly to see Cloud's fists balling together tightly, veins bulging out of his pale skin. "That's ridiculous, Yuffie," he murmured.

Reno whistled. "Well, what do we have here? Two_ jealous_ people." He sighed. "I've never been so flattered in my entire life."

"You wish, Reno," Yuffie muttered, rolling her eyes again. Suddenly, Moggy's ears started twitching and she looked around in confusion until she saw Reno. That was when she waddled over to his outstretched arm and cuddled into the fabric of his jacket sleeve.

"Wha---Yuffie, what the hell does this thing want from me?" Reno had a panicked look on his face as he stared intently at the steady breathing of the moogle. "It's curled against my arm."

"Don't tell me you've never had someone _cuddle_ against you before," Yuffie laughed. "Not after all the bragging I have to hear about your many escapades _day after day after d-_"

"That's different. Those are women." Reno gestured to her. "Something you're not." Then, he pointed to Moggy, ignoring Yuffie's appalled gasp of anger. "This is clearly a moogle, not a woman."

"No shit," Yuffie shot back, trying to hide the hurt from his last comment. "And by the way, you could only ever_ dream _about scoring a first-class woman like me instead of those skanks down at Honeydew…whatever the hell that degrading place is called."

"Honeybee Inn?" Reno corrected with a smirk. "I don't need to go there to get a woman-"

"STOP IT, YOU GUYS!" Tifa interrupted them by shouting as loud as she could. She groaned. Yuffie and Reno both looked at her. "I get so tired of having to listen to you and your verbal…battles every single time Reno comes over."

Yuffie gave Reno a fake smile. "And I am so tired of always _winning_." Reno opened his mouth to say something in response, but Tifa shot him a look that instantly made him clamp his mouth shut.

"Kupo. Kupopo?" a small voice startled everyone by saying something, regardless of whether or not it was understandable. "Ku-" Moggy looked at Reno, tilting her head. "-po." Then, she slowly looked at Yuffie…then back at Reno, then back to Yuffie.

"So how did you end up with this moogle, Yuffs?" Tifa asked, clearly inquisitive about the situation. "It's so cute." She reached over to pick her up, but then Moggy made a high-pitched screech and bit down on Tifa's hand. "Ouch!" Tifa flinched back, rubbing her hand and furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "It bit me!"

Yuffie tried to stifle a laugh. "She did?" Yuffie leaned over and grabbed Moggy from in front of Reno so she could hold the moogle in her lap. "That's weird. This little girl only seems like the snuggly type to me. Maybe you just scared her or something."

"Uh, Yuffie?" Cloud asked. Yuffie tilted her head to the side in response. "How do you know that the moogle is a girl?"

Yuffie laughed out loud that time. "Simple. I asked her. She nodded." The ninja scratched the top of Moggy's head, resulting in the moogle's contented sighs. "You're a smart little moogle, aren't ya?" Moggy nodded.

Tifa shook her head. "Okay, now I'm really confused. Yuffie I have _never_ seen you so good with any type of living thing before, no offense. Whether it's a child or a dog or a-"

"Hey!" Yuffie interrupted. "I am too! Kids just tend to get on my nerves and dogs don't like me. Plus, I have tons of cats back at my house in Wutai, remember?"

"When was the last time you were there to feed them?" Cloud wondered aloud. Yuffie swallowed and made no response to his logical question.

Tifa sighed. "Can you just start from the beginning, please? I want to know what's going on here."

"Okay, fine." Yuffie took a deep breath. Everyone was silent, waiting for her to finally explain. "I went to the store like you asked, but the storekeeper remembered me from my materia-hunting days. He used to work in a materia store in Midgar and back when we were saving the world from Sephiroth…I might've…kinda…stolen all the materia in the store."

"You WHAT!?" Tifa exclaimed in shock. "That's awful, Yuffie!"

"Hey, that's not the point! And I'm sorry!" She huffed. "It was a desperate time. It's not like I knew whether or not I was even gonna get a chance to give the materia to my dad. Sephiroth could've sliced and diced me into tons of little ninja pieces."

"Fine," Tifa sighed, trying to fight back a smile. "So, continue."

"So, he recognized me and just started chasing me through the whole store like a crazy man! When I finally got out of there, he threw a stale loaf of bread at me! I mean _come on!_" She raised her arms into the air dramatically. "Who throws bread at people?"

"That's why you didn't get the groceries?" Reno asked, dumbfounded. "That sounds like a load of crap."

"You _would_ say that Reno." Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Tifa and Cloud should know that something like that would happen to me…just because it's me, I guess."

Cloud sighed. "You're right. I actually believe you."

Tifa nodded. "Me too. But how did you come across the moogle?"

Yuffie stiffened and braced herself for what was probably going to be an onset of laughter. "I was skipping down the sidewalk when I happened to trip over Moggy," she blurted out in a rush.

Just as she expected, the whole room busted out in laughter. Especially from Reno's end. Yuffie didn't even think it was that funny, but somehow, she knew that _they _would find it hilarious.

When the laughter finally died down, Yuffie looked at Tifa innocently. "So, does this mean you're not mad at me for not getting the things on your grocery list?"

Tifa crossed her arms and smiled. "I guess not, Yuffie." She sighed. "I'll just have to pick up those things a little later on today. Oh, I still have to bake the cake!" She started rifling through the cupboards to take out ingredients for the birthday cake.

Marlene jumped up and down excitedly. "Can I help, Tifa?" _Who wants to help make their own birthday cake? _Yuffie thought sardonically.

Tifa nodded kindly, taking out a large mixing bowl. "Of course you can, Marlene!"

Yuffie got out of her barstool and started to brush herself off. "Okaay, so at the mention of making anything edible, I believe that's my cue to leave."

Marlene pouted. "Aw, don't leave yet. We have lotsa other stuff we're making too!" She started listed off all the various dishes, desserts, drinks and other things that Tifa would be serving at the party tomorrow.

Yuffie shook her head, fighting really hard not to roll her eyes. "Sorry, Marley. But you know baking's not my thing!" She picked up Moggy and turned to go.

"Wait, Yuff. What if that moogle belongs to someone?" Tifa inquired softly. "Are you going to return it?"

Yuffie turned around for a moment. "Teef, there's something about this moogle…I don't know what it is…but she's special. I think I'll hold on to her for a while. Or as long as I can." She turned back around and started for the door. _Plus, she doesn't belong to anyone anymore…or so she answered me with a nod. Wait, how reliable _is _asking questions to a moogle who can only--_

"I'll walk you to your apartment," a sultry voice came from right behind her. _Why would _he _want to walk me to my apartment. He doesn't even know where it is!_

"It's close to the WRO building, right? That's on my way because I told Reeve I would meet with him at some point this afternoon." He paused for a moment. "Actually, I told him that yesterday, but I didn't feel like going. He's probably pissed by now. I better go today unless I want Cait Sith stalking me for the rest of my life."

Yuffie couldn't help but laugh at his last comment. She felt the same way about Reeve and Cait Sith. But she didn't want it to look like she had _anything _in common with Reno, though, so she bit back her laugh after only letting out a few. "No thank you, Turkey. I would rather not be defiled today by just being in your company. I've had enough of you as it is." Was it just Yuffie, or did his arrogant smirk falter slightly? _Just imagining things…_

She didn't even have to turn around to know that Tifa was sending a scorching warning glare in her direction. _Dammit. I'm only doing this for you, Teef. _"Okaaay, Reno. I was just kidding." She pushed open the door and walked ahead of him. "Let's go."

Reno's smirk was re-plastered on his face, and Yuffie saw a trace of an unknown emotion twinkle in his aquamarine orbs. _He's planning something. _Yuffie sighed. _This day just keeps getting better and better, _she thought sarcastically.

* * *

A/N: Kay, so i have at least 10 chapters planned for this story now! YAY! i will NOT abandon this fic now! XD woot. drop by a review if you feel like it! ;D


	3. A Date?

_**The Mysterious Moogle**_

_Three: A Date with Reno?_

"So why the sudden need to walk me home, Turkey?" Yuffie wondered aloud after the two of them had made it a few blocks away from Seventh Heaven. "You can't stand me and I can't stand you." She motioned from him to her with her free hand. She was holding a sleeping Moggy in her other arm. "I thought that's always how it was with us."

Reno smirked with a nonchalant shrug. "Well, I just figured I'd throw a fast ball to see if you could actually dodge it." He winked at her when she sent him a confused look. "You never saw this coming, did ya?"

Yuffie rolled her eyes and groaned. "I knew you would never be nice to me on purpose. The world would be spinning in the wrong direction and towards the _sun _if that were the case…" she mumbled as she started to pick up her pace. "See you later, Birdbreath. I hope Reeve kills you at that meeting."

"Hey hey hey!" Reno quickened his pace to match hers, grabbing her arm to try to get her to slow down a little bit. "My job's not done until we're at your apartment!" He smirked indignantly. "And right now, we're nowhere _near_ it."

"I still think it's creepy that you know where I live," Yuffie remarked dryly, absentmindedly stroking Moggy's furry head.

"You know where _everyone _lives, kid!" Reno shot back. "At least I don't stalk people like an amateur ninja!"

Yuffie stopped walking and faced him with a glare. "You must've stalked me at least _once _if you know where I live! There's no other way in _hell _that you would know! It's not like I would actually invite you in or anything."

Reno appeared not to have heard her last statement. He was still facing her, but his attention was directed at something above her head. Yuffie's eyebrows furrowed and she started to voice, "What are you staring at…?" Then, she turned around to find out for herself.

Her stomach growled in appreciation at what she was looking at. It was a low-key pasta house, and the smells of the sauces were beginning to waft outside and tease Yuffie's senses. Reno must have been staring at its over-sized sign on the top of the building.

"You hungry?" Reno asked casually, crossing his arms.

"Well…" Her stomach made another noise of protest. "I guess, but I'd never go in there with y-"

Her complaint was cut off as he quickly grabbed her arm, dragging her into the restaurant. "Then, let's eat."

She didn't even have time to react before she and Reno were facing the host inside the restaurant. "Party of two?" the host asked with a sophisticated accent, bowing his head slightly in the process.

Yuffie opened her mouth to shout _"NO!" _before she took her chance to escape, but Reno, who was still holding onto her arm, answered the host with a smirk, "Yep. And make it a private booth, would ya?"

Yuffie's jaw dropped. _Private booth…What the HELL!?_

The host straightened himself and looked at the pair interestedly. "Well, actually, we do not seat anyone in those booths until after 8 o'clock in the evening." Suddenly, the man's eyes darted to what Yuffie was holding in her arms. "And I would hate to be forced to make you lovely couple leave…animals are prohibited in this restaurant."

Reno looked appalled, but then quickly hid it by an amused smirk. He cleared his throat before stating calmly, "Hey, buddy. Do you even _know _who we are?"

Yuffie had actually, _uncharacteristically_, managed to stay quiet throughout the whole exchange. What Reno had just said was seriously something _she _would have said, if given the chance. Her eyebrows shot up underneath her bangs in approval.

The host started to shake his head, but then, his eyes suddenly widened and his posture stiffened. "Oh, yes…o-of course. You are the infamous Turk and she is the Wutainese ninja from Avalanche." He licked his lips nervously. "My apologies." He grabbed two menus from the host stand and gestured for them to follow him. "Right this way, please."

The ninja laughed aloud. "Nicely handled, Turkey. I _actually _approve."

Reno sighed in satisfaction. "Your approval isn't what I was shooting for, kid. I'm just hungry."

"Whatever," she mumbled as the host led them to their booth. She and Reno both took their seats across from each other, and Moggy curled into a ball in Yuffie's lap. Their host handed them the menus with shaky hands before bowing to them.

"I w-will be your waiter this afternoon, as well," he stammered. "My name is J-Jacques, by the way. Let me know if you need anything and I will be back in a few minutes to take your ord-"

"Okay, Jacques, you can leave now," Reno cut the poor guy off with a wave of his hand.

The host's eyes widened in fear as he tried to formulate a sentence in his defense, but he was somehow unable to make a single noise.

Yuffie felt like laughing at the unfortunate guy, but at the same time, she didn't want to side with Reno either. "Hey, it's okay, Jacques. Turkey here is just a big softie on the inside! Don't let his tough guy act scare ya!" She placed her hand on Jacques' arm in reassurance. The host just nodded nervously before scampering away.

"What the hell did you tell him that for?" Reno demanded. "I am the furthest thing from a _softie! _You wanna see a softie? Look at that Marlene kid's huge, gun-armed dad. _That's _a softie."

Yuffie snickered at Reno's silly response. "Chill, Turkey. No need to freak out. I was just trying to make our waiter feel a bit better!" She crossed her arms. "There was no need to be such an ass to him."

"Yeah, well, Moggy is hardly classified as an animal. All she's done since I've seen her is sleep!" Reno exclaimed. "And have you even looked around in here?" He pointed to all the empty tables around them. "There aren't any other people in here except for us. He didn't have to tell us that we couldn't sit here just because he felt like being an arrogant son of a b-"

"Reno!" Yuffie interrupted. "It's not that big of a deal! You were the one who dragged me in here, and _you _were the one who wanted the private booth! What the hell is up with you today anyway, Turkey!?"

He shrugged and leaned back into the cushiony back of the booth. "I told you. I'm hungry."

Yuffie shook her head, rubbing her temples in exasperation. _There's no getting through that thick skull of his, is there? Guess I'll just have to suffer in silence then…That way, I can make my escape before the bill comes!_ Yuffie smiled happily to herself at the thought of her brilliant, fool-proof plan.

"I know that look," Reno stated, breaking through Yuffie's reverie.

Yuffie tilted her head to the side innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she chirped in a sing-song voice.

Reno laughed, actually _laughed! _Not a smirk, or a demeaning look, or a snigger…it was a _laugh. _And Yuffie was confused. "What is so funny, Reno!?"

Reno shook his head slowly. "Oh, nothing. That expression of yours just made me remember some old memories. That's all."

Yuffie's brow furrowed again. "What kind of memories?" she pressed. She honestly couldn't help it. If she was going to be stuck in this restaurant with him, then she may as well _try _to pass the time civilly.

"Oh, just some memories of a certain knobbly-legged, over-sized shuriken tosser." Reno leaned both of his arms on the table and smirked at her. But it wasn't the same kind of smirk she was used to. It wasn't _mean_…but Yuffie couldn't exactly identify the emotion hidden beneath his eyes at that moment.

She decided to shrug it off.

"So your thinking back to when you got your ass handed to you by an awesome ninja?" She retorted casually. "Well, the _best _ninja to ever grace the planet with her existence, that is?"

"It was actually more of a self-proclaimed ninja than anything else," Reno continued, ignoring Yuffie's indignant huff. "But yeah, she did hand my ass to me on a silver platter. I'll give her that."

Yuffie smiled back. "I'll bet she did."

^O^...^O^...^O^...^O^

Yuffie honestly couldn't remember the exact moment during her afternoon with Reno that she started to actually…_enjoy _herself a little bit.

Maybe it had been when he offered to walk her home? Yuffie acted like she was disgusted, but secretly, she was a little flattered. Everyone thought she was strong enough to handle herself, but at the same time, it was nice to know that somebody cared…even if that someone was Reno.

Or maybe it was when he had grabbed her arm to stop her from walking away from him? She always liked it when people fought for her to stay in their company. Yuffie was the kind of girl that needed some confidence-boosting here and there, and _that _definitely raised her ego.

Instead of those other two possibilities, maybe it had actually been when Yuffie and Reno started to reminisce and _get along _while they were eating their pasta? That must've been it. They finally had something in common with one another: their pasts of fighting each other and trying to save the planet from Meteor, even though they were on opposite sides at the time. What else could explain the weird tingly feeling that Yuffie had felt in her chest while they were reminiscing?

But no. Yuffie couldn't ever admit these ridiculous thoughts and feelings about the Turkey because he…_Reno_ was only taking her home to be nice. Right?

_I'll bet Tifa asked him to before I even got home. He'd do anything for her…anyone would. _

Yuffie rested her head against the back of the door of her apartment, her heart still doing crazy flip-flops at the interesting afternoon she had spent with Reno.

Reno had just dropped her off at her apartment after they had spent more than an hour and a half at the pasta house, enjoying the pasta, but more importantly, enjoying old memories. For once in Yuffie's life, she and Reno had been _civil _to each other. But for some reason, she didn't like that she _liked it._

_Come on! It's Reno!_

He was stupid, yet he could be incredibly intelligent. He was very attractive, but he _knew _it, and to Yuffie, that quality turned her off sometimes.

Reno could also be incredibly selfish, but the way he acted today made her believe that there might be more to him than just the arrogant jokester that everybody knew.

She yawned tiredly and stretched out, stifling a laugh with her hand as she saw Moggy doing the same thing on the floor at her feet. "You're _still _tired, Moggy!? You've been sleeping all day!" Yuffie laughed. "Okay, fine." She bent over and picked the little moogle up. "Let's go take a nap, kay?" Moggy nodded in response.

Yuffie walked into her room and placed Moggy on one of the pillows on the bed. "Is that going to be comfortable enough for you, Moggy?"

"Kupo!" Moggy nodded happily.

Yuffie laughed again. "Okay, good." She walked over to her dresser, pulling out some boxers and a loose tank-top to take her nap in. Yuffie always like to be comfortable.

After she got changed, she crawled into bed, snuggling deep into it and pulling the covers up to her chin. "Why is Reno such an ass all the time to me?" Yuffie asked to no one in particular.

"Kupo," Moggy gave a quick, matter-of-fact answer.

With her eyes still closed, Yuffie laughed into her pillow. She was really starting to love having Moggy around. The little moogle was so cute, not to mention the fact that she understood everything that Yuffie said to her.

It felt good to Yuffie to have someone…rather, some_thing_ by her side. She needed that unconditional support.

Ever since she found out about Tifa and Cloud, she had felt an odd sort of longing in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't jealous or anything. _Gawd, I don't like Chocobohead like _that_!! _But she couldn't help but feel like she was missing out on something.

At work, Rude and Elena were starting to show hints of being interested in each other. It was only going to be a matter of time before they got together. Or so Yuffie thought.

Even Reeve had found a coworker he was beginning to take an interest in as well. She was a shy little computer technician, but Yuffie thought she was a sweetheart. And she was pretty in her own way. Reeve and she would make a great couple.

_Hmm, if I pull a few strings, maybe I can get Rude and Laney AND Reeve and Dana together within a WEEK! How awesome would that be!?_

Yuffie nodded into her pillow, mind made up. She would succeed in her quest at all costs.

As all these people were coupling off and leaving Yuffie as the odd one out, she couldn't help but think to herself, _When am I gonna find somebody?_

That was her last thought before she drifted off into a deep sleep.

^O^...^O^...^O^...^O^

**AN: **Hey thanks for the reviews everybody! And I'm sorry this took me a bit longer to crank out! :/ Oops.

Anyway, please leave a review if you care to share something that you loved/hated or want me to add/omit. Or maybe leave a review just to say hi? :) I think I'd like that too!!! XD

Kay, thanks for reading everybody!!

-koala


	4. Party Time

_**The Mysterious Moogle**_

_Four: It's Party Time!_

A pounding noise startled Yuffie out of her dreamless sleep. She bolted upright in her bed suddenly, but then fell backwards against the soft mattress again, clutching her hand to her forehead. "That was _way_ too fast…" she mumbled. "Still not…awake yet…urgh."

_Knock-Knock._

"Dammit." Yuffie rolled her eyes, thinking that whoever the hell was at her door was an incredibly impatient person. She slowly pulled her blankets away from their warm, comforting embrace so she could swing her legs over the side of the bed.

_KNOCK-KNOCK!_

"Okay, _okay_!" She hopped off of her bed, darted out of her bedroom, ran past the kitchen, and finally reached the door. She pulled it wide open in complete annoyance. "Who the _hell_ is about to break my frickin' door off its hing-"

Her sudden gasp cut the rest of her sentence off. "What are you doing here, Turkeyface? You _just _walked me here not too long ago. I'm perfectly fine, but thanks for checking up on me," she tried to hide the blush that was slowly creeping onto her face.

_Why is he here again…? Oh well_.

"Buh-bye!" She made a move to close the door on his face so she make her way back to her bedroom, but Reno's quick hand movement stopped that from even happening.

He pushed the door back open with a huge smirk on his face. "Uh, princess? I walked you to your apartment _yesterday_."

Yuffie blinked, dumbfounded. "Wha…?"

"I." Reno pounded his chest proudly. "Walked." He made a walking gesture with two of his fingers. "You," he nodded at her pointedly. "Here." He tapped both of his feet on the ground a few times to exaggerate his point. "Yesterday!"

Yuffie's jaw dropped. It wasn't just the fact that what he was saying was true. No. It was the also the fact that Reno had added spirit fingers and an annoyingly fake-cheery expression on his face after he had finished speaking.

_Gawd._

But Yuffie still felt really stupid about the situation. "Turkey, I am not _completely_ incompetent," she blurted out without thinking.

Reno smirked again. "So, you admit you _are _incompetent? Even if it's only somewhat?" He laughed at the ninja's expense. "I should be the first person that sees you every morning, princess. This must be when you show your idiot side more than usual." He crossed his arms proudly. "I like it."

Yuffie blushed crimson. "Hey, either tell me why the hell you're back at _my _apartment without my invitation, or get the hell out! I'm still tired and I wouldn't mind getting a few more hours of sleep." She crossed her arms over her chest so she could look a little bit tougher to back up her demand.

It didn't seem like it had any effect on the Turk.

Reno shook his head slowly. "Yuffie, Yuffie, _Yuffie._" It was like he was talking down to a little toddler. It annoyed the hell out of her, and it took all of her willpower not to pounce the Turk then and there, ripping out all of his bright red hair in the process. _His sleek…sexy hair! Wha…?---Yuffie, don't even _go_ there! THAT'S RENO YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT!_

"What!?" she shot back, getting more annoyed by the second. Though, she was more annoyed with the direction her thoughts were taking than with Reno, but the Turk didn't have to know that last little tidbit.

"I'm only here because Teef asked me to make sure you weren't late for the kid's birthday party." He shrugged, deciding to lean against the side of the door pane. The way he looked so natural, so comfortable in that position in _her _apartment made Yuffie feel a bit skittish. She wanted him out. ASAP.

"Teef figured you'd oversleep or something," he continued without noticing her steadily increasing anxiety level. He shrugged again. "Guess she was right, huh."

Yuffie blinked confusedly. "Wait…what time _is _it? It can't be after eleven already! That would mean I slept for…" She started to tick off the number of hours with her fingers. "A really long time…!?" she exclaimed in shock.

"Damn, what did you do? Go to sleep right after I dropped you off?" He asked, genuinely surprised.

Yuffie wrapped her arms around herself even tighter. She was _very _aware that she was less clothing than usual…and she barely wore any clothes to begin with, so that's saying something. "Yeah, ninja's need their rest! What's wrong with that!?"

"Usually when I take a girl out on a date, she and I have to actually _do _something for said girl to get _that_ tired." He paused for a moment. "That's not saying that crappy pasta place we went to was a date. I already told you I was just hungry…and I _know_ you were too, so it was just a…a…"

Yuffie sighed dramatically. "Just stop there, Turkeybrain. Pluck you're fat head out of the gutters, would ya?" She suddenly glanced at something behind him. "And could you please mind shutting my door? If you're gonna stay here and bug me till I leave for Teef's, then you might as well make yourself useful." She pointed at the door across the hallway. "My neighbor over there is a _huge _creeper. If he sees an opportunity like this with my door wide open, he might actually try something!" she finished with a shaky laugh. She hoped he didn't notice the hint of paranoia in her tone. Both at Reno _still _being in her apartment, and the stalker neighbor she had across the hallway.

Shivers went down her spine at the thought of the two men. _Nyuk. Ninja's don't get panicky. They take charge! So TAKE CHARGE! Nyuk nyuk…_

Reno glanced behind him for a brief second before complying to her request. "Yeah, whatever. Teef asked me to make sure you got there on time, so I'll just walk back there with you."

She sighed again. "Fine, but you'll have to wait for a bit. I really need to take a shower." She started walking back in the direction of her room. "I don't give a crap what you do…make yourself at home, I guess." She shrugged as she disappeared from view.

Out of Yuffie's hearing range, the Turk muttered, "_Home?_ Hmm…"

^O^…^O^…^O^…^O^

Yuffie hurriedly put on her shorts before bending over to pull her boots on as well. She kicked one leg onto the bed at a time so she wouldn't have to try too hard to lace it all up. As she was finishing up the last boot, she heard a loud whistle from behind her.

"Nice view."

She whipped around to face Reno with the meanest glare she could muster. "Get the hell out of here! Who said you could come into my room!?"

Reno leaned against the door frame again, tapping his chin with his index finger in thought. "Well, you _did _say to make myself at home."

Yuffie groaned. "I didn't mean it like that, you idiot." She sighed. "I guess I'm just lucky you didn't drift into my room five minutes ago."

Reno's jaw dropped. "You mean I missed somethin' good!? Damn!" He exclaimed in a fake-exasperated voice.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Let's just go, asshole. We wouldn't wanna make Teef worry or anything. _That _would be really bad. Especially on Marlene's birthday!"

Reno nodded with a trace of his earlier smirk still on his face. "Fine by me."

^O^…^0^…^O^…^0^

"Happy birthday, Marlene!" the ninja shouted as the young girl beamed at the last two people to show up at her party.

"Yuffie!!" Marlene ran towards them, crushing Yuffie with one of her unbelievably forceful hugs. It honestly knocked the wind out of the poor ninja. And she almost dropped Moggy! That would have been really bad.

_Hope Teef's not too mad we were late…_

Luckily, Tifa currently had all of her attention directed on getting the cake onto the serving tables. She didn't notice them arrive so late. Turning around while she wiped her hands on her apron, Tifa smirked at Yuffie and Reno. "Glad you two decided to finally show up."

_Geez, nothing gets past her. She's like a superhero or something!  
_

"Kid, even _I _got here on time!" Cid hollered from on of the many tables that were set out for the party. He had his arms wrapped around Shera and was smirking at the ninja.

"Yeah, that's because I don't have someone awesome like Shera to help me get dressed in the morning," Yuffie shot back. "No offense, Shera," she quickly added as she noticed Cid's face getting redder and redder.

Shera waved Yuffie off with a small laugh. "None taken, sweetheart. I know exactly what you mean."

Cid looked as his wife with an appalled look on his face. "What the hell!?"

"_Language,_ Cid! Marlene and Denzel are here, remember!?" Shera chided, giving Cid a scalding glare. Cid winced slightly under her scrutiny before firing back another heated comment to his wife again.

Yuffie rolled her eyes as she watched the bickering pair get into another verbal spar. "Same old, same old _there. _Hmm, where's Reevey-boy!?"

Marlene, still holding onto Yuffie's arm in her vice-like grasp, pulled her over to another one of the tables, where Reeve, Dana, Rude, Elena, and Rufus were sitting. "Hey, guys! What's up!" They all gave a quick glance at the moogle in her arms, but said nothing about it.

_Tifa must've already explained everything to them…figures._

Reeve laughed at her chronic enthusiasm. "Oh, we were just waiting for you two arrive, Yuffie. You and Reno are _always _late to every one of the meetings I schedule, so I suppose that a birthday party…would be no different…" he trailed off.

Yuffie crossed her arms. "Well, that's because your meetings are _so _boring. If you want me to show up on time, you should make them fun…or something. Like a party!? I dunno." Yuffie turned to Dana with a sly smirk on her face, a plan starting to formulate in her mind. "Don't you think Reeve is the _worst _employer ever, Dana? I mean, he's just so old, and weird, and boring, and he has that weird goatee thingy, and-"

"Yuffie," Dana cut her off with a gentle voice and a shy smile. "I think that Reeve is a great employer." Her cheeks blushed at her uncharacteristically outspoken statement, and she looked down sheepishly, causing her light brown bangs to fall over her eyes. "I meant, um…" she faltered for something different to say. Dana was usually a very quiet, reserved woman. She was definitely smart and witty, but she didn't show it too often because she was so incredibly shy.

Yuffie's eyes widened in delighted surprise at what she just heard. _Step one: DONE! _She glanced at Rude and Elena, who were having their own private conversation, despite how loud Yuffie had been talking.

_I'll have to work on those two later. Now, as for Dana and Reeve…_

"Well," Yuffie clapped Dana on the shoulder. "I'm glad he has such a _wonderful _employee like you." Dana's blush reddened. "You probably help him finish off most of the technical, electronic, mumbo-jumbo, doncha?" Yuffie asked.

"Dana is wonderful at what she does," Reeve answered for her. He had the slightest of a blush on his cheeks as well. _This is going perfectly! _"You're right about _that,_ at least." He had a small smirk on his face again.

Yuffie huffed. "Are you insinuating that I'm _not _right about stuff? Because I am! You and I both know that if it wasn't for me, 'Cactuar-Bot The Third' would be a huge pile of ash right now!"

Reeve brought his hand up to his forehead, his thumb and forefinger gently massaging his temples. This, Yuffie _knew,_ was the sure-fire sign to tell everyone that Reeve was beginning to get a headache.

"Yes…you're right," he reluctantly admitted. Then, he let out a huge sigh.

"Good!" Yuffie chirped. "That's all I wanted to hear!" She glanced down at the many plates of food on their table. "You started to eat without me!?" She exclaimed, obviously appalled to see such terrible things, before immediately running towards the serving table, where Tifa was readjusting the placement of the birthday cake. "How dare they…" She proceeded to get as much food as she could possibly fit onto it. Her stomach growled in appreciation.

It had been awhile since she had that pasta with Reno…

_Hmm, where _is _Turkeyboy?_ Yuffie thought absentmindedly as she continued to pile more food onto her plate. _Why do I care…?_

"Well, you weren't here when you were supposed to be here!" Tifa explained with a small smile on her face. "And everyone was hungry, so..." She shrugged nonchalantly.

Yuffie huffed again, but her mood was considerably lightened when she noticed that there was still a huge pile of her favorite meal of Tifa's: _home-made pizza._

She was nearly salivating at the sight. _Okay, _now_ I forgive them!_

^0^…^0^…^0^…^0^

Yuffie had to withhold herself _several_ times from rolling her eyes at the childish games they were playing.

_Now it's 'Pin the Tail on the Chocobo!?' Seriously…?_

She endured it. She may not show it very often, but she _did _love Marlene and Denzel a ton. Even though they sometimes acted like demon children whenever she had to watch them for Tifa and Cloud…

"Yuffie, it's your turn now!" Marlene was giving her an adorably expectant look, dangling the bright yellow tail in front of her face. "Come over here so we can blindfold you and spin you around a few times!" She giggled as Yuffie reluctantly obliged, after delivering a sleeping Moggy into Tifa's waiting arms.

The world was pitch black to Yuffie now. All she could hear was Marlene's excited voice counting the number of spins, and some of the other partygoers' laughter.

_Is that a chuckle from Vincent I hear?…No way._

Yuffie's body came to an abrupt stop from its previous spinning, but that didn't stop her head from feeling like it was on a merry-go-round.

_Urp…stay in my stomach, you EVIL food! Don't betray me now!_

"Okay, Yuffie!" Marlene giggled. That child was very giggly today. Well, it _was _natural since it was her birthday. That would probably make sense. Kids love their birthdays. "Are you ready to pin the tail!?"

Yuffie nodded shakily. _Who knew this stupid game would be so hard? It feels like I'm gonna fall on my face if I take a step!_

She dared to take one wobbly step forward, and just about fell over in the process. She bit her lip in anxiety. _Ninjas don't get dizzy! The dominate at children's games like this! So suck it up and DOMINATE!_

She nodded vigorously as she took a few more steps forward. The agonizingly painful nausea in her stomach was beginning to make itself more noticeable.

_Dammit, you evil stomach! Stop screaming in pain!_

She gulped nervously, taking one more step before she froze altogether.

_Oh gawd…I'm gonna…_

…

…

…

"Shit, princess!" A disgusted voice shouted in shock. "Why the hell did you barf all over _me_? The trashcan's right over _there_!"

Yuffie smirked nervously, pointing a shaky hand to the blindfold over her eyes, as if to say _"I can't see, you idiot."_

She heard him sigh as Tifa came scrambling towards them, placing her hand over Yuffie's forehead in a panic. "Yuffie, are you feeling alright!? You don't normally vomit unless you're getting your motion sickness!"

"Teef…urp…"

_Shit, it's hard to talk without feeling like I'm gonna puke again. Gross…_

"She…frickin'…spun me…around!" Yuffie pointed at Marlene, who shot a toothy grin at Tifa.

"I'm sorry, Yuffie!" she chirped out in her high-pitched voice. "Honest! I just wanted us all to play a game for my birthday…" her voice was starting to sound a little sad.

_Damn that cute voice! I can't be mad at her now…_

Tifa pulled the blindfold off Yuffie's face, giving her a worried look. She placed her hand over the ninja's forehead again, this time sounding even more anxious than before. "Yuffie, you really don't look so good. Are you sure, you're okay?"

"You look like shit, babe," Reno agreed, sparing them a quick look before looking back down at his ruined shirt in disgust. "And you're paying for a new shirt."

Another wave of nausea coursed through Yuffie's whole body. "Yeah, yeah…fine." She gave Tifa a sad smile. "Maybe I should leave? I didn't mean to ruin Marlene's party."

"You didn't ruin my party, Yuffie! You made it more fun!" Marlene exclaimed. "Especially when you got Mr. Rude and Miss Elena to dance together!"

The two Turks, standing towards the back of everyone, visibly flushed in embarrassment.

Yuffie was starting to get shaky on her feet. "I'll…give you your present tomorrow…kay, Marls?"

Marlene nodded with a serious look on her face. Well, maybe the look was more _concerned _than serious, but that was beside the point. "Feel better, Yuffie, okay!?"

_Damn that kid and her maturity level!_

"Bye, everyone!" Yuffie gave an obnoxious smile to everyone around the room. They all waved back halfheartedly, seemingly confused and even a little worried about Yuffie.

The shinobi made a move to leave, but the moment she took another step, her vision started to blur, leaving her muscles numb and her head in pain.

She started to fall forward…

When two strong arms grabbed her from behind.

"Dammit, Yuffie!" came the annoyingly sexy voice that she was growing so used to hearing all the time.

Then, she completely blacked out.

^O^…^O^…^O^…^O^

**A/N:** Cliffie? Yes, I know. I'm terrible.

And please forgive me for taking forever to post this!? This will never go on hiatus. I refuse to leave any of my stories incomplete. It…just takes some time every now and then.

Anyway, please review? I need guidance!


	5. C o n f u s i o n

_**The Mysterious Moogle**_

_Five: State of Confusion_

Her head was still spinning. All she could see was black everywhere, but every now and then, she would hear muffled voices. The tone of their worried voices surprised her. She wondered why they would sound so anxious…so concerned. Did it have something to do with her?

"…Yuffie…"

"…ever wake…?"

"…damn brat…"

_HEY!_

Her eyes blinked open and she sat up in a rush. "Ahh! Too fast!" She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face with both hands. "Not again!" _Déjà vu, déjà vu!_

"You okay, Yuffie?" a motherly voice asked.

Yuffie removed her hands from her face and was greeted with the sight of her best friend at the edge of the guest room bed.

"What happened?" the ninja asked, obviously confused about the situation. She glanced at the clock, which read _6:30. _Yuffie hoped it was the evening…and not the next morning.

Tifa got up to grab the glass of water from the nightstand next to the bed, handing it to Yuffie with a small smile on her face. "You got sick all over Reno…and then you passed out."

_Whoa! Crap…_

"I did?" Yuffie asked after taking a few careful sips of water. "Damn…I must've had too much to eat. And with all that spinning, I just…" she trailed off. "I'm so sorry if I messed up the party."

Tifa shook her head slowly. "Stop apologizing, please! It's not like you," she laughed. "And honestly, you really can't control when you get sick." The barmaid scooted closer to her on the bed. "I'm just worried about you, that's all." She put her hand on Yuffie's forehead to check her temperature. "Were you feeling sick before you came to the party?" Tifa's cool hands felt nice on Yuffie's somewhat warm forehead.

Yuffie shook her head. "Nope…there's no way I could've felt sick. I mean, I had a _really _good sleep the night before."

Tifa cocked her head to the side slightly. "How many hours of sleep did you get?"

Yuffie sighed, remembering how confused she was when she woke up that morning. "Uh, too many…"

"Okay, so maybe there _is _something wrong with you, Yuffie. Should we schedule an appointment with the doctor?" Tifa asked with that worried look still on her face.

"Ugh, stop worrying so much, Tifa! I'm fine, really!" Yuffie assured her friend. She swung the blankets away from her legs and was surprised to feel something heavy slide to her side when she did so. "Huh?" Then, a little bright red pom-pom poked out from under the sheets.

Tifa laughed softly. "Moggy's been in here with you the entire time you were unconscious," she stated with a grin. Tifa reached over to pat the buried moogle on the head. "I think you were right…there's something really special about her."

Yuffie nodded energetically. "'Course I was…I'm always right! You should know that by now, silly!" She jumped out of bed, but had to clutch her hands to her head again when she started to feel dizzy. "Whoa…"

"Don't you think you're taking things a little too fast, princess?" a lazy voice drawled.

"Go away!" Yuffie shouted. _Mean Turkey! Does he always have to be where Tifa is…?_

She heard slow footsteps make their way into the room, followed by the low creak of someone sitting on the bed nearby. "That's the thanks I get from saving you from squashing that face of yours? I thought you'd be grateful to keep it from getting even more messed up than it already is."

Yuffie pried her hands away from her face, swinging around to glare at Reno. "You're such an asshole! Why can't you just leave me alone for once?"

Reno smirked and let out a biting laugh. "Believe me…next time I will." He got up and left the room without turning around once.

Yuffie stayed where she was standing, staring at the open door Reno had just walked out of. The ninja truly couldn't explain the blank feeling that she felt in her chest after the Turk had left.

She heard Tifa sigh heavily. "You know…he was in here with you the entire time you were unconscious too," she stated matter-of-factly. "I think he was a bit worried about you."

"Yeah right," Yuffie muttered sardonically, closing her eyes again to keep the world from spinning.

Tifa must've heard her short comment under her breath because she stood up - with Moggy in her hands - and groaned. "Why do you always have to be like that? You can never easily accept help from anyone, can you?"

"Not when it's from big, stupid, arrogant Turks who think they're so hot and sexy and great and -"

Tifa's laughter cut the ninja's tangent off. "What is so funny?" Yuffie demanded to know, hands on hips in her trademark stance. Tifa kept laughing. "Hey, are you even listening to me?"

Finally, after a few more moments, Tifa had controlled herself enough to say, "Oh, it's nothing. But you should probably apologize to him at some point. That was really rude."

Yuffie's jaw dropped. "Why should I apologize to him when he's the one who -"

"Yuffie!" a high-pitched squeal came from the direction of the door. Tifa and Yuffie turned their heads to see Marlene darting towards them with an ecstatic smile on her face. "I'm so glad you're awake now, Yuffie! I was worried." She nearly tackled the ninja with her powerful hug, latching onto her as tightly as she could. "Do you still have my present?"

"Marlene," Tifa scolded. "That isn't something to ask someone who's been unconscious for the last several hours."

_Good, so it's still the same day! Whew…that's a relief._

"Ah, it's okay, Teef! Presents are presents. I am the _same _way!" Yuffie started digging through her pockets for a particular item. "Aha! Here it is!" She pulled out a small, rectangular box with a little green bow on the top of it. Yuffie bent over to whisper in Marlene's ear, "Please, don't open it in here? Teef might be…uh…jealous…or something." She placed the present in Marlene's eager hands.

"Sure! Thanks, Yuffie!" Marlene bolted out of the door enthusiastically.

Tifa placed her hands on her hips. "What did you just say to her, Yuffie?"

Yuffie whistled absentmindedly. "Oh, nothing. Just…you know, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She wiggled her fingers in the air in feigned enthusiasm.

Tifa cocked an eyebrow, obviously not believing any of what the ninja was saying. After all, Yuffie _was _known for her masterful art of deception and manipulation.

_Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. The Great Ninja Yuffie is awesome at lying!_

"I know you're lying," Tifa stated as she pulled the sheets up on the bed so she could make it properly. "But I'll find out eventually."

Yuffie laughed nervously. "Heh, sure ya will!" _Dammit. How does she always know…?_

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I will. But now that I'm thinking about you and Marlene, is there any way I could ask you a favor?"

"That would only be fair, considering the whole 'me passing out' thing," Yuffie replied with a wince. She still couldn't believe that she did something as weak and girlish as _passing out_! And in front of so many people, too…

Tifa smiled. "Good. Can you babysit Marlene and Denzel the day after tomorrow? Cloud and I are…um…I mean, I have somewhere I need to be." A tinge of red stained her cheeks.

Yuffie laughed obnoxiously, plopping herself onto the bed once Tifa was finished making it. "Hmm, the demon children?" She tapped her chin in thought. "Let's see…only if you admit you and Cloud are secretly dating. And that where you'll be '_going,'_" she made air quotes with the word, "is on a date with him." She cackled animatedly.

The barmaid's jaw dropped and her face completely reddened.

"Aw, give me _some_ credit, Teef!" Yuffie whined. "Don't look so shocked! It's completely obvious that you two are together now."

Tifa put her hands to her blushed cheeks. "I-Is…Is it r-really that obvious?" she stammered out, looking at Yuffie with silently pleading eyes.

Yuffie nodded exuberantly. "Chyeah!? How could it not be obvious?" She paused for a moment. "Well, actually, maybe it's only obvious to me?…'Cause I'm so brilliant!" She paused for a moment. "I'm pretty sure Reno hasn't caught on yet, otherwise he'd give up coming here everyday to see you…" she trailed off, getting lost once more in her thoughts of a certain red-haired jerk.

Tifa sighed. "For the last time, Reno does not think of me like that." She stood up and started to walk towards the door. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he has eyes for someone else we both know…"

Yuffie jumped off the bed. "Who!?" She realized her mistake as Tifa turned around to give her an amused look. "…I mean, not that I care or anything," she quickly added, trying to hide _her _blush this time.

Yuffie's only answer was Tifa's laughter as she walked away.

^O^…^O^…^O^…^O^

"Kupopopo!"

Yuffie sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Patience is a virtue, you know!" She got onto her tiptoes to grab the cereal off the top shelf. _Not like I'm a very virtuous person myself...Nyuk._ "Ugh…got it!" She threw her hands into the air in triumph and spun around a few times.

"…kupo?"

That snapped Yuffie out of her victory dance. "Is cereal cool with you for lunch, Moggy?" she asked slowly, opening the box and taking down two small bowls from the shelves.

"Kupo," Moggy replied with an eager nod of her head.

Yuffie laughed as she doused the dry contents of the bowls with milk. A sudden pounding at her door made her jump, almost spilling the milk from the carton. "Shit…who could that be?"

The image of a certain red-haired Turk came into mind, only making her frown and shake her head vigorously to rid herself of the image. _He won't be back here, Yuffie! He has no reason…_

"Be right back, Moggy!" Yuffie chirped as she closed the milk carton and skipped to the front door. "What do you w---" She opened the door to find no one there. "Huh?" Her gaze dropped to the ground, where she noticed a small envelope, reading _'Miss Kisaragi'_ in dark, bolded letters.

Trying to ignore the foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach, she hurriedly snatched it from the ground, and darted back into her apartment. She locked the door, then turned around to lean her back against the hard wood. She glanced down at the envelope in her hands again. "Who could this be from?"

Being the curious ninja she was, Yuffie wasted no time in ripping the paper apart. What shocked her the most was that it wasn't an invitation of sorts, it wasn't a love letter (who wouldn't love the Great Ninja Yuffie!?), it wasn't a bomb (she would've been ready and willing to disarm it right away…if that'd been the case), and it wasn't a payment notice for taxes or bills.

Nope.

It was a single white sheet of paper with one sentence written in the center of it. The handwriting was very small, precise…and neat. Whoever had written it had taken the time to make sure that each word was clearly spelled out---that their point was clearly made.

Yuffie gulped. _Whoever this is from...they made their point, loud and clear._

The center of the paper read, _"I seek revenge for my fallen comrades, so I suggest you watch your back."_

There wasn't anything else on it. No signature, no "Dear Yuffie", no NOTHING!

Yuffie felt her blood run cold.

"Kupo?" Moggy appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. _It's like she has a sixth sense or something!_

The ninja quickly shoved the contents back into the envelope before hiding it in her pocket. Not like hiding it from a moogle - a very smart moogle, at that - would do anything, but she did it anyway.

"I'm coming, Moggy!"

^0^…^0^…^0^…^0^

**A/N: **Yes another cliffy. I'm sorry!

Reviews=LOVE!

Koala needs some love! =3

(_**Teaser**__ for the next chappie: Yuffie has to babysit the demon kids with none other than…Reno!? How on Gaia did that happen!? Hmm…Tifa's a conniving one, isn't she?_) ;D


	6. Babysitting is Quite the Chore

_**The Mysterious Moogle**_

_Six: Babysitting is Quite the Chore_

"Thank you again, Yuffie, for babysitting the kids tonight." Tifa was still getting ready as she opened the door for the ninja. Her hands were shaking as she clasped a beautiful necklace around her neck. "Give me a few more minutes and then Cloud and I will be on our way."

Yuffie sniggered silently to herself as she readjusted Moggy's position in her arms. She secretly loved it when Tifa got all antsy and nervous and stuff whenever she had somewhere to go with Cloud. It was just so…cute! Who wouldn't love to see Tifa like that? "Don't worry about it, Teef! You take your time. Make yourself drop-dead gorgeous for Chocobo-brain, please," Yuffie laughed obnoxiously. "He won't know what hit him." She bent over to put Moggy on the floor.

Tifa turned around to give Yuffie a chiding look - most probably because the ninja had referred to her man as being a _Chocobo-brain_ - before walking swiftly up the stairs to finish getting ready for her big date.

"Sheesh, someone's a little uptight tonight," Yuffie thought aloud as she closed the door behind her and walked towards the bar counter. "She's probably just a little nervous, nyuk nyuk nyuk." A sudden thought came to Yuffie's mind. "Where are the demon children, I wonder?"

"YUFFIE! AND MOGGY TOO!?"

The shinobi winced at the sound of Marlene's excited squeal. "Ah, well that answers my question," Yuffie murmured before turning around. Her eyes widened considerably. "What are _you _doing here?" she shot out when she was greeted with the familiar presence of a well-known redheaded Turk.

He smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, that's the worst greeting I've ever gotten, princess. My little heart is breaking deep down inside."

Yuffie had to will herself not to say, _"You actually have a heart!?"_

Denzel appeared behind him. "Yuffie was supposed to be here ten minutes ago, you guys! Is she here yet---Oh." Right as he walked up next to Reno, he realized that Yuffie had _indeed _arrived. "Hey, Yuffie…" he murmured almost inaudibly as he dropped his gaze down to his feet.

"Hey, Denz! What's up?" Yuffie tried to make the noticeable silence less awkward after Denzel appeared. "Why is Flameball here with you guys?" She waved her hand in Reno's general direction. "Did I miss something?"

"Tifa didn't tell you?" Marlene chipped in. "He's babysitting us too! We're going to have so much fun together tonight, Yuffie. I have so many things planned for us to do. First, we could have a really yummy dinner. Well, me and Denzel can make it actually, since you're not very good at making food, Yuffs. No offense. Then, we can play on Denzel's ripplebox for a little while before we…"

Marlene's words started to become a querulous jumble of noises to Yuffie as she continued to prattle on about _all _her plans for the night. Yuffie wondered why she was so excited, though. It was only going to be a few hours, she figured. Bedtime for the kiddies was probably at like…8 o'clock…or something like that. Right?

_Sure. _Yuffie nodded to herself.

If she could manage to ignore Reno for the whole night, then this wouldn't turn out badly at all!

Well…maybe.

Yuffie was going to have to ignore that weird feeling in the pit of her stomach, though. What an unfamiliar, yucky feeling it was.

Why was it creeping all around on her insides? Could it be…_guilt_?

Yuffie shuddered as she swallowed the huge lump that had formed itself in her throat. What would The Great Ninja Yuffie have to be guilty about?

…

Oh, yeah. It was all coming back to Yuffie now. Marlene's party. Yuffie eating too much…feeling sick…_getting _sick…passing out…waking up…bitching Reno out for no reason…yup. That was it.

_Dammit! Go away, you stupid conscience! Why do you choose _now_,_ _of all times, to appear?_

"Yuffie, are you even listening to me anymore?" Marlene asked with a slightly wounded expression on her face. She was kind of resembling a kicked dog, Yuffie thought, with the way she was staring at her with those huge eyes.

"Sure, kiddo. We'll have delicious food, play ridiculously fun games, watch cheesy movies, and maybe later we can give Reno and Denzel the makeover of their lives?" she ad-libbed, and much to her success, Marlene giggled.

Denzel and Reno both groaned. "I don't need a makeover, princess," Reno drawled. "But thanks anyway."

Yuffie just rolled her eyes. "So ya think, Turkey."

Reno opened his mouth to reply, but he abruptly cut off as his eyes widened. He was looking at something behind Yuffie. He slowly closed his mouth and just stared.

Quirking her brow and silently wondering what had rendered Reno speechless, Yuffie slowly turned around. Her breathing hitched in her throat as well.

There, at the top of the stairs, stood Tifa. No…a _goddess _was standing there_. _She was wearing a dark blue dress that fit her figure perfectly. Her hair looked as more beautiful and shinier than it ever had, and the necklace she was wearing shimmered in the light. She was drop…dead…gorgeous.

"Whoa…" Marlene voiced from somewhere behind Yuffie. "You look so pretty, Tifa. Cloud's not gonna believe it!" She squealed excitedly. "Hey, is he back yet? I don't want him to make you late for your date, Tifa!"

Tifa smiled softly as she walked down the stairs. "He should be here any minute, Marlene. Don't worry."

Yuffie stared in awe as Tifa managed to maintain her regal state _even _while she was wearing high heels. _How does she do it!? _"Teef, you look _amazing_!"

Reno whistled, crossing his arms as he looked the barmaid up and down. "Damn right she does. What did Cloud do to deserve such a dressed-up night like this?"

Tifa blushed. "Oh, stop with the compliments, you guys. You're embarrassing me."

For some reason, Yuffie felt a tinge of anger when she saw that Reno was still staring at Tifa. She couldn't understand why, though. _Turkball can stare at whoever the hell he wants!_

"And Cloud was the one who asked me out for tonight, actually," Tifa continued with a sly smile on her face. "It was out of the blue, really." Tifa's eyes brightened as her gaze shifted to somewhere outside. "Oh, there he is now! He's probably waiting for me by Fenrir."

Yuffie's jaw dropped. "Cloudy's gonna make you ride that thing when you're dressed like that!?"

Tifa shrugged. "I really like it when he lets me ride on Fenrir with him." Her cheeks reddened again. "Anyway, I'd better go before we're too late for our dinner reservations." She walked towards the door, but paused as she reached out for the handle. "Oh, and Yuffie? _Please, _call if you have trouble or if you have any questions, okay?" Tifa laughed softly as she left Seventh Heaven.

"Pfft, like I'd need to actually call for anything!" Yuffie huffed indignantly, once she made sure that Cloud and Tifa had disappeared from sight.

"Says the babysitter who can't keep her eyes on the kids for more than two seconds," Reno stated nonchalantly, leaning against the bar counter.

Yuffie whirled around to glare at the Turk. "What!?" Her eyes widened when she realized that Denzel and Marlene were nowhere to be found. "Where are they, Turkey!? I know you know!"

"I know you know that I know they know you don't know where they are right now," Reno agreed with a shrug. "Hide-and-seek isn't really _that _hard to understand."

Yuffie's brain hurt after trying to comprehend what Reno had just said. "Wait…what? Just shut up and let's find them!"

"Kupo!" Moggy squealed excitedly from under one of the barstools. "Kupopopo!" Then, the little moogle darted up the stairs.

The ninja slapped a hand to her forehead. "Ah, man. Even _Moggy's_ playing the stupid game!?" She sighed. "Oh, well. I guess I forgot that Moggy's just a little kid after all, too. Well…probably?"

Reno nodded. "Sure, whatever you say."

"Shut _up_, Turkey! Help me out here?"

He shrugged. "You're the babysitter."

"So are you, ya moron!"

"Marlene likes you better."

"Then why are you even here?" Yuffie placed her hands on her hips, her posture upgrading to its famous _Yuffie is pissed _stance.

"Tifa asked me to."

"Then how would you like explaining to Tifa that _you _can't find Marlene and Denzel anywhere…two minutes after we were officially alone with them?" Yuffie challenged, jutting her chin up in the air huffily.

"…"

"Exactly," Yuffie said with a smirk.

Reno sighed, rubbing his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. "Okay, lead the way, small-fry."

Yuffie's face reddened as she clenched her fists angrily. "Are you making fun of my height? You think I'm short?" She took a few threatening steps towards Reno, sending him a scorching glare that she hoped would actually start his red hair on fire. "Well I'm not! I'm 5 feet tall, _okay_!? Oh, and add on a few inches with these kickass boots!" Yuffie kicked her foot into the air, obviously trying to show-off her awesome ninja legs and her beautiful shoes at the same time.

Reno smirked, completely ignoring her outburst as he walked up the stairs. "Betcha I can find 'em first." He disappeared from Yuffie's sight, leaving the poor ninja standing there silently fuming.

"Oh, it's _on. _We'll see who the _best _babysitter is." She ran up the stairs as fast as she could. "_I'll_ find the demon kids first!"

^O^…^O^…^O^…^O^

"Ouch!" Yuffie accidentally banged her head on the bottom of Tifa's bed when she was looking under it. "They're not here, either!? Where the heck could they be!?" She had looked everywhere that she could think of!

After she had said that, she could've sworn that she heard something coming from the direction of Tifa's closet. That noise she was hearing…could it be someone _giggling_?

With an evil smirk on her face, the stealthy ninja tip-toed over to the closet. Not before saying, "Ah, well I better go check Marlene's room right _now_. Daaaaarn!" She covered her hand over her mouth when she heard the giggles increase in volume.

She closed the distance between herself and the closet in two huge strides, then swung the closet door open, yelling, "AHA! I FINALLY FOUND YOU!"

Denzel and Marlene flinched at the sudden intrusion of light _and _sound. Moggy was cuddled into Marlene's arms, refusing to show her face.

Yuffie placed her hands on her hips, huffing at them indignantly. "Next time we play hide-and-seek, you need to _tell _me we're playing! I had no idea where you guys went!"

Denzel stood up and brushed off his pants. "We figured Reno would tell you."

Marlene hopped up as well. "Yeah, Yuffie. Plus, you found us, so what's the big deal?" Her eyes brightened. "Oh, now we can go eat dinner! I'm starting to get _really _hungry!"

She and Denzel bolted out of the room, leaving the lone ninja standing there, confused. "Where the hell do they get all that energy? They're starting to remind me…of _me_!"

^O^…^O^…^O^…^O^

"And here's your macaroni, Yuffie," Marlene stated, placing the last of the dinner plates on the table in front of the bewildered ninja. "Enjoy!" The little girl took her own plate and sat down next to Yuffie, who was still lost in her thoughts.

"You keep your mouth hanging open like that and all the flies will find a permanent residence there, princess," Reno commented before taking a huge bite of his noodles.

Yuffie clamped her mouth shut and glared at the redhead furiously. "Shut up, Reno." She huffed before taking a bite of her own food. Then she was reminded of why she was so lost in thought in the first place. Turning to face Marlene, she asked softly, "Have you always been able to cook this well, Marlene? This is some pretty good stuff!"

Marlene shrugged. "I dunno. I've watched Tifa work and cook since before I can even remember. I guess I learned from watching?"

Denzel nodded slowly, still too bashful to make eye contact with Yuffie. "Marlene's got a natural talent for cooking. And a whole bunch of other stuff," he added with a small grin. He was completely oblivious to the red blush that his comment stirred up in Marlene, though.

The Great Ninja Yuffie is nothing if not observant, however. She noticed it, all right. She _definitely _noticed it. But why was Marlene blushing?

_Nyuk nyuk nyuk…_The Great Ninja had an interesting idea.

"Soooo," Yuffie started, taking another big bite of the delicious dinner. "Whatcha guys wanna do after dinner?" She had said it with her mouth full, though, so her question sounded more like, _"Watchags won doofta duna?"_

Marlene just stared at Yuffie, eyes wide and a huge smile on her face. "What did you just say, Yuffie? I couldn't really hear you because your mouth was all full of food, silly."

Yuffie looked around and noticed that they were all looking at her either with looks of amusement - on Marlene and Denzel's part - or a little bit of annoyance mixed with something else - on Reno's part. The ninja took her time chewing before she swallowed. Then she let out a huge sigh. "Kay, so we've all known that I've had sucky table manners for…how long now?"

Marlene giggled. "Forever."

Denzel nodded, still not looking Yuffie in the eye. "Yeah."

Reno just rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "So what were you trying to say with all that stuff crammed into your mouth, brat?"

_Since when did he call _me _a brat? A brat is…Marlene or Denzel! Someone young like that! Not me…_

"I was asking what you guys wanted to do after dinner," she answered with a slightly furrowed brow. "So what do you think?" Marlene and Denzel caught each other's gaze, both smiling slyly. "Uh oh…" Yuffie muttered, slapping her hand to her forehead. "What now, you guys?"

Marlene shrugged. "Just a movie, Yuffs."

Yuffie stared at the adorable little girl, trying as hard as she could to detect any signs of deceit or lies. She couldn't find anything, though. Darn that girl! She'd spent too much time around Yuffie! She could hide her thoughts like a pro now. Just like the best of ninjas.

"Okay…just a movie…" Yuffie muttered to herself before sighing.

^O^…^O^…^O^…^O^

"Oh, gawd!" Yuffie screamed when the screen bleared to life. "ANYTHING BUT THIS MOVIE! Gawd, pleeeasse? Just kill me now! Take me out of my misery!?"

Marlene looked deeply hurt by Yuffie's outburst as she stared at the ninja, bottom lip jutting out slightly. "What's wrong with this movie?"

Yuffie's jaw dropped. "What's _not _wrong with it?" She sat up straight and cleared her throat. "To start, it's title is _Forever Love _but it's about little ten year old kids. How ridiculous is that? You can't fall in love with someone for…for _forever _when you're just a kid!"

Marlene's eyes started to look watery. "But it's a good movie! And they're not little kids the whole entire time. I don't see why you don't like it, Yuffie, it's so romantic _and _funny! All in one…" She took a seat next to Denzel, who was sitting next to Yuffie, who was sitting next to Reno on the huge couch.

She closed her eyes and willed herself not to argue about a dumb kid movie. She was their babysitter for the night so she seriously just needed to just suck it up and deal with it. The movie was starting, anyway. Marlene would be heartbroken if they took it out now. And if Denzel and Reno were dealing with the movie, then she could too!

Biting her lip and suddenly feeling very bad for being so mean, Yuffie leaned forward to catch Marlene's gaze. "Hey…Marley, I'm sorry. You know how I get with super duper over-the-top gushy lovey-dovey romance flicks like this," she said with a smirk. "But I'll watch it again because _I looooove yoooou!_"

She was obviously forgiven because Marlene started to giggle. "Okay. Can you make some popcorn, though?" she asked with those darn doe-like eyes. That little girl _knew _that Yuffie was instantly wrapped around her little pinky finger with that simple look. "You make the best popcorn, Yuffie! That's like the one thing that you don't burn or explode when you try to make!"

Denzel smirked from next to her, and feeling Reno's shoulders moving, she realized that the stupid Turk had _dared _to laugh at her! HER! Yuffie Kisaragi! The Great Ninj---okay, you get the point. Yuffie was really pissed. But only at Reno.

She whipped her head to the other side to muster up one of the best glares she had ever sent his way. "Reno…don't make me hurt you."

"Babe…" He leaned over so he was incredibly close - maybe a little too close for Yuffie's comfort - to her face. "You _know_ I like it rough," he whispered in a low voice. He moved back so he could stare right at her and smirk at the shocked look on her face.

_Damn that Turkey for getting the best of me! Grrr, I'll get him back later!_

She hopped off the couch and ran over to the bar area so she could start making the popcorn.

"Yuffie, you'll miss the beginning!" She heard Marlene yell from the other room.

"THAT'S FINE BY ME!" Yuffie shouted back, smirking. _Nyuk, nyuk. The more of that movie I miss, the happier I'll be. Plus, this is more time away from Turkeybreath! _"I _gotta _make the popcorn for you guys, Marls!"

And make the popcorn, she did. It smelled pretty damn good too, if she could say so herself. Which she definitely was about to do. "Hey, guys. The wonderful popcorn is ready for your hungry little mouths to demolish!" _Even though you all just ate, _she mentally added, shrugging at the thought. "You guys eat all the time," she commented as she gave Denzel the huge bowl.

"Shh!" Marlene said, placing her forefinger over her mouth. "I'm trying to listen. And you're always hungry too, by the way," she whispered loudly. "Watch the movie now, Yuffie!"

Yuffie mentally praised herself for being a very strong person. She was simultaneously resisting the multiple urges to roll her eyes, yawn in boredom, cry at the pure predictability of the whole movie, _and_ fall asleep on Reno's shoulder because it looked _really_ comf----WAIT, where the hell did _that _one come from?

From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Reno had started to nod off. She didn't blame him. This movie was freakin' boring! Why the hell did Marlene love it so much?

She sighed, looking over at the other side of the couch. She had to cover her mouth so she wouldn't be sappy enough to go, _"AWWW!" _at the sight of Marlene and Denzel cuddled up together, fast asleep. She bit her lip, standing up from the couch carefully so she wouldn't wake anyone up. With another look at Reno, she decided that he was out for the count as well.

_Man! _She should use that movie for insomnia treatment if she ever needed it. Looking at the sleeping bodies on the couch, the whole _putting-you-to-sleep-before-you-even-know-it _thing seemed pretty damn foolproof.

She grabbed the empty popcorn bowl from off the ground and bent over to pick up everyone's water glasses as well. She figured that while the movie was finishing up, she would do these dishes and put them all away nicely. Teef would probably appreciate that.

_Maybe I'll get a tip or something, nyuk!_

Just as she started to rinse the bowl out in the sink, she felt a hand come down on her shoulder.

"GYAAAH!" The bowl dropped from her hands and was sent clattering down into the sink as she whirled around and punched the intruder right in the face.

"_SHIT! _What the hell, Yuffie?"

Yuffie finally registered the red hair, the goofy goggles, the scars under bright blue eyes, and the pissed off look being sent her way.

Reno was staring at her, covering his cheek with his hand in pain.

_Shit! Oopsies?_

"Erm…sorry about that, Reno." She bit her lip nervously. "You should know better than to sneak up on a ninja, though! We're always on our guard, stupid!"

Reno's brow cocked up at her last comment as he carefully removed his hand from his face. Yuffie gasped when she saw the black and blue coloring and the lump that was already starting to form on his cheek.

"Yeah, you ninjas are always on your guard," he stated sardonically. "On your guard well enough to know that it was _just me _walking up behind you…idiot."

Yuffie crossed her arms and huffed. "I said I was sorry, okay? SORRY! I didn't mean to punch you in the face." Suddenly, a smirk appeared on her face. "Are you just all pissy because you got punched by a girl?" She uncrossed her arms and stood up as straight as she could so she would look taller.

He shook his head, rolling his eyes. "No. But this is gonna hurt like hell for a few days." He winced as he rubbed the lump again. "You definitely punch like a dude."

Yuffie's head tilted to the side slightly. "Is that a compliment?"

"If you want it to be," he said with a shrug. "Look, I came in here to help, but it looks like you're done with all the dishes and crap." He scratched the back of his head. "I fell asleep after the first five minutes of that movie, but I woke up when you started to move around so much." He smirked. "The kids are completely out, though."

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah, I know. It's a shame, actually. Marlene was so excited to see that movie and she just ended up falling asleep. So much for all the 'plans' she had for us to do tonight."

Reno laughed. "Yeah, sounds like something only a kid would do." He sighed, looking down at his hands.

Biting her lip, Yuffie finally mustered up the courage to say something that had been bugging her for all day. "Hey, Reno? I'm sorry."

Reno's brow furrowed as he looked back up at her. "Yeah, you already said that. I'll get over it. A bruise is a bruise. Plus, it'll look pretty badass when I get back to the office and-"

"Nonononono. No! That's not what I meant!" Yuffie said, shaking her hands out in front of her. When Reno didn't say anything in reply, she was forced to elaborate. "I'm sorry…for the way I acted after Marlene's birthday party, okay? I was a…bitch…to you after you were so…nice…enough to help me out. I'm s-sorry," she said it all in a low voice, but he had good enough hearing to understand every word. He wasn't a trained Turk for nothing.

He nodded slowly. "Okay."

"That's all you're going to say? Okay? Are you serious!? I just apologized, which is something I barely _ever _do, and all you have to say is _okay_?" she shouted in his face. She didn't even realize that they had somehow closed the difference between their bodies in the last few moments. She had her back against the counter and he was staring right down at her with a huge smirk on his face.

"Yeah. It's…_okay. _I forgive you, princess. I guess."

Yuffie crossed her arms, secretly wanting Reno to back away from her personal bubble at the same time that she had the sudden urge to reach up and kiss the hell out of him.

_Again…what the hell is wrong with me tonight?_

"Kupopopo!" an excited voice called.

Reno and Yuffie both snapped their heads to the side at the sound, and Reno took a few steps away from her in the process.

"What the hell? Moggy?" the ninja muttered as she caught sight of the moogle sitting on the counter. When Moggy saw them staring at her, she slowly waddled over to the near edge of the sink.

"KUPO!" she cried, sending a profound look Reno's way.

"What the hell does that thing want, Yuffie?" Reno asked, obviously bewildered. "I…hey, what's this?" He bent over to pick up something that was at Yuffie's feet. As he unfolded the piece of paper, he had a smirk on his face, but once his eyes darted over the words on the page, the smirk had disappeared.

He looked up at Yuffie after he had read it, an obvious frown on his face. "Yuffie…what the hell is this all about?"

Yuffie looked from the paper back to Reno's face again. _Shit! That's the note that I found at my door a couple days ago…_

"Oh, that must've fallen out of my pocket!" Yuffie laughed nervously, trying to hide her discomfort from the awkward situation. "Here, give it back to m-"

"Not before you tell me what the _hell _this is all about," Reno cut her off, his facial expression dead serious. "Yuffie…is there something going on that you haven't told anyone up at WRO headquarters about?"

Yuffie gulped, staring at the piece of paper in his hands. It had read, _"I seek revenge for my fallen comrades, so I suggest you watch your back." _Honestly, Yuffie wasn't sure exactly who it could've been from. She was the princess of Wutai _and _she worked for the WRO as the Head of espionage and intelligence…so there could be a vast amount of possible suspects. "I don't know anymore than you do, Turkey. Someone knocked on my door a few days ago and when I went to see who it was…the note was the only thing there."

Reno's eyes widened as he took in her words. "You said that whoever gave you this…left it at your door!?"

Yuffie nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

Reno slapped a hand to his forehead in exasperation. "Yuffie, you can't-"

Suddenly, the front door of Seventh Heaven opened up, revealing two blushing people. Tifa Lockhart and Cloud Strife walked inside the bar, hand in hand. "Hey, you guys! How did everything go tonight with the k…kids…?" She took one look at Yuffie and Reno. They couldn't mask their serious facial expressions fast enough to fool Tifa. "What is going on?" she asked, placing a hand on her hip and staring them down. "Yuffie? Reno? Are the kids okay!?"

Yuffie nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, yeah, of course they're fine! Marley and Denz are actually asleep on the couch. Reno and I were just about to go carry them upstairs to their rooms," she elbowed him hard in his gut, "weren't we, Reno?" She glared at him to make sure that he got the message she was trying to send his way…

…the clear message that she did _not_, under any circumstances, want Tifa to know about the weird note.

Reno read the message loud and clear, and he nodded. "Yeah. Everything went fine tonight, Teef. The kids were great. How was your date? Dinner and a movie, was it?" He forced a smile on his face as he looked from Cloud to Tifa.

Tifa shook her head and sighed, taking off her jacket and throwing it over one of the barstools. "I am not an idiot. There is something going on that you're not telling me, _Yuffie._" She glanced at Cloud and Reno with a smile. "Would you guys mind carrying Marlene and Denzel up to their rooms, please? I need to ask Yuffie something."

"But I-" Yuffie tried to say something, but with a deadly glare from Tifa, she was immediately silenced.

Reno and Cloud left the bar area, and Tifa and Yuffie just stood there, staring each other down. "What did you want to ask me, _mother_?" Yuffie said, crossing her arms.

"Is there something going on between you and Reno?" Tifa asked with a small smile on her face. "When we walked in, he looked like he was leaning over…and you didn't exactly look like you were complaining, either," the barmaid laughed. "You _have _to tell me, Yuffie."

Yuffie sighed. Tifa could be intuitive at times, but how was it that right now, she was _so _far off the marker? Maybe the date with Cloud left her with a clouded mind?

_Nyuk…Cloud…clouded mind…nyuk, I make myself laugh sometimes._

"Yuffie!" Tifa snapped the dazed ninja out of her reveries. "Start talking. _Now_."

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "No, Tifa. There is absolutely _nothing _going on between Reno and me. He was just being a jerk like he always is…and I was…uh…telling him to knock it off."

"Is that why there's a bruise on his cheek?" Tifa asked softly, but that smile was still on her face.

Yuffie laughed obnoxiously. "No, he has a bruise on his cheek because he snuck up on an awesome ninja when she still had her guard up!"

"I did _not _sneak up on you, Yuffie!" Reno called as he and Cloud walked down the stairs. "Marlene and Denzel are safe and sound in their beds, Teef," he added quickly.

Tifa smiled at both men. "Thanks, you two." Then, she turned to face Yuffie. "Do you need Cloud to give you a ride to your apartment? It's pretty late. I don't want you to walk that far by yourself."

Yuffie opened her mouth to respond, but Reno stepped in front of her, successfully cutting her off. "Yuffie's actually going to be staying at my place tonight, Teef, so Strife won't have to worry about giving her a ride."

"She's _what_?" Tifa said at the same time that Yuffie screamed, _"I'm what!?"_

Reno smirked, turning around to wrap his arm around the young ninja's shoulders. "Yuffie's gonna stay with me tonight."

"Why?" Cloud asked, looking between the two like he was missing something.

Tifa nodded, blinking her mahogany eyes in confusion. "Yeah, Yuffie_. _I thought you said that there was n-"

"I, uh, you…HAHAH…yeah!" Yuffie blurted something random out to stop Tifa from finishing that sentence. She didn't want Reno to know what they had been talking about before. And…she was starting to think that she understood why Reno wanted her at his place tonight.

She sighed.

But that didn't mean that she would go over there all happy and content! "I'm going to Reno's place tonight," Yuffie muttered.

Tifa's brow furrowed, but she nodded nonetheless. "O-Okay. Well, I'm tired, so I'm going to get to bed." She waved at them as she started towards the stairs. "Cloud, you ready to come up here too?"

Cloud nodded as Tifa disappeared at the top of the stairs.

"Man, Strife…you are whipped," Reno commented casually as he watched Cloud approach the stairs.

Cloud turned around to glare at him. "Shut up, Reno."

Reno just laughed in response, shaking his head slowly. "See ya later, Strife. Lemme know the next time you and Teef decide to have a hot date. Yuffie and I will babysit. For free. Again."

Cloud sighed, shaking his head, but choosing not to say anything in reply.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Cloudy, it was nice seeing ya!" She waved at the blonde warrior as she bent over to pick up Moggy.

"Goodnight, Yuffie," he muttered as he disappeared up the stairs.

Reno laughed again as he, Yuffie and Moggy left Seventh Heaven.

"So…just let me make sure I have this straight. Why am I staying with you tonight?" Yuffie said in a soft voice.

Reno groaned, slapping his hand to his forehead again. "You seriously call yourself a ninja? With _shit_ like that for instincts?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

Yuffie let out a silent huff as they continued to walk. "What is _that _supposed to mean?"

"Yuffie," Reno said through a clenched jaw. "If the person that wrote this note," he waved the piece of paper around in the air, "left it at your _door_, then I'm willing to bet that they can just as easily get _into _your apartment if they tried hard enough. What would you do if you went back to your apartment right now and there was someone there waiting and ready to kill you?"

The ninja tried to ignore the shudder that traveled down her spine at the gruesome thought. "Well, I…I'd kill them with _my _fantabulous skills!"

"Be serious, princess."

"I am! I-"

"I'm also willing to bet that maybe the reason you were feeling so shitty the other day was because someone _already _got into your house and put some crap in your food."

Yuffie's jaw dropped. Suddenly, all the dots were coming together. "I...oh." She readjusted the sleeping moogle's position in her arms.

"Yeah." Reno shook his head as he smirked at her from the corner of his eye. "Oh."

^O^…^O^…^O^…^O^

**A/N: **Wow, it's been forever since I've updated this…Forgive me? Maybe you won't be as mad since this chapter was the longest one yet!? ^O^ Woot, be proud of me!

Oh, I should probly apologize for something else too =/ I'm not going to be able to update again for awhile. I'm outta town from tomorrow till the 21st so I won't have computer access till I get back. =[ Well, thanks so much to all you readers and reviewers, though!! I love the support!!! And I was kinda sorta hoping that you guys would review some more so that I could have lotsa comments and constructive criticism to read about once I get back in town? XD

Kay thanks in advance! Love you guys! And sorry! ^O^


	7. The Longest Night

_**The Mysterious Moogle**_

_Seven: The Longest Night_

Yuffie whistled as she stared at her surroundings. "Nice place ya got here, Turkey." She smirked as she realized it looked exactly like she thought it would. Small. Simple. A bit messy. Somehow, that type of apartment seemed to fit Reno perfectly. "I like it," she said as she set Moggy on the kitchen table. She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.

She really did _not _want to have to say it...but with Reno not contributing to the conversation at all, it seemed as though she might be forced to blurt it out.

_Ah, screw it._

"Thank you, Reno. For letting me stay here with you for the night, I mean."

Reno nodded, shrugging off his jacket and throwing it in a heap in the corner of the room where a bunch of other discarded clothes were scattered. "Sure," he said. "Still can't believe you were too stupid t' realize how much of a threat this is." He held up the letter and waved it around a few times. He made a clucking noise with his tongue, shaking his head and placing the piece of paper on the table next to the sleepy moogle.

Yuffie rolled her eyes, but decided not to say anything. She would've shot back some indignant comment in response, but she really didn't feel like arguing. Especially when she...well, when she _owed _Reno for doing something like this for her. "So...uh...you gonna give me a tour or what?" Yuffie asked expectantly, still glancing around the apartment.

The redhead turned around to give her a funny look. "Not much to see, princess." He pointed to the area to his right. "Here's the kitchen." He took a few steps to his left. "Here's where I lounge and watch TV." He patted the big, dark green sofa lovingly. Yuffie stifled a laugh when she saw the look of appreciation on the Turk's face. "My room's the first door on the right, and the bathroom's the second door on the right." He gestured to the two doors a little ways away from where the TV was propped up against the wall. "That's about it," he finished, plopping down on the couch with a satisfied sigh.

"Oh," Yuffie murmured. "Okay, then." She tapped her foot a few times, wondering what to do or say. In all her years, the ninja could say that she'd never been placed in a situation like this before. "Um...Reno? You're not gonna tell Reeve or anyone else at the WRO about the letter...are you?"

The Turk leaned his head back on the sofa, looking at her upside down. "What else would you have me do?" he asked with a trace of confusion in his voice. "Technically, I'd be following protocol. For once," he added in an undertone.

Yuffie bit her lip, walking around the sofa to take a seat next to him. "Look...I really don't want anyone else to know about my little problem here. Kay? So can you just...keep this whole thing between us?" She emphatically gestured between them with her hands. "Please?"

"Hmm..." Reno stared at her for a few moments, obviously contemplating the pros and cons that would ultimately result from agreeing to her plea. "Well, only if you tell me all your suspicions about who we could be dealing with here."

Yuffie's stomach did a weird little flip-flop when she heard him say _we_. She tried to push the giddy feeling away, suddenly fearing that she was very stupid for even reacting in that way.

"And you have to fill me in on all the missions you've been on in the last year, too," he added casually. "Then, maybe I can actually help you out a bit. Since you would never _dream_ of letting the WRO know about any of this." His voice was filled with sarcasm.

_All the missions in the last year!? Gawd...this is gonna be a long night. I can barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday..._The ninja sighed, but agreed to his demands with a small nod. "Okay. Fine. Whatever you want."

Reno nodded, sitting up slightly. "Good. Didn't think you'd cooperate so easily, kid." He smirked. "I'm not gonna lie."

Yuffie huffed, jutting her chin up defiantly. "Well, maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do."

"Maybe not..." Reno glanced over at the kitchen table, where Moggy had curled herself into a ball on top of Yuffie's letter. "Okay." He clapped his hands before rubbing them together a few times. "Feel free to start explaining any ol' time now."

She nodded before taking a deep breath. "Well, my first mission for this year was in Corel." She bit her lip as she tried to remember every single detail. "And there was nothing to it, really. All I had to do was check out why there were some nasty smells comin' from the newly-established mines." She noticeably grimaced.

"What happened, yo?" Reno wondered aloud, waiting for the petite ninja to continue.

Yuffie shook her head a few times, looking anywhere but into the Turk's aquamarine gaze. "Trust me. You don't wanna know."

Reno shrugged nonchalantly. "Try me."

"...It was just an old guy with really bad digestive problems." Yuffie let out a huge sigh. "And halitosis. And social problems," she said with a shudder. "He really creeped me out."

Reno cocked a brow. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that he's probably not our man here." He nudged the ninja with his elbow. "You thinkin' the same thing?"

Yuffie nodded. "Yup. I didn't do anything to piss him off. I have no idea why, but he actually liked me a lot for some weird reason..."

"Weird is right," Reno muttered under his breath.

"Hey! Don't be such a jerk!" Yuffie yelled indignantly. "I heard that!"

The redhead flinched under her scrutiny. "Well, I'm the jerk savin' _your_ sensitive ass here! Get over it."

"Ooooh, you really make me _so_ mad sometimes," she huffed, flipping her hair out of her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest.

"I can tell, yo."

The ninja had to take a few calming inhalations...followed by therapeutic exhalations.

_Alright...I'm okay. He's a jerk, but I _can _get over it!_

She chose to continue explaining as though nothing had just happened. "...the next mission was in Junon."

"And?" he pressed, leaning closer to her a fraction of an inch.

She shook her head. "Again...nothing too climactic or crazy happened. Reeve sent me there to negotiate some WRO-related crap." She smiled when she remembered something. "The diplomat for Junon was a cute old lady. The day we met to discuss things, I knew she looked familiar, but I couldn't place my finger on it. But _then_ I remembered who she was after she asked me how Cloud was doing!!"

Reno's face scrunched up slightly. "What does Cloud have to do with any of this, princess?" he asked in a tone that sounded remarkably like anger. Well...Yuffie thought so, at least. And she was a bit confused by it, to be honest.

"Cloud?" Yuffie's brow furrowed. "Oh, right. That old lady – Matilda was her name, nyuk – she remembered me from the Avalanche days. Cloud saved her granddaughter, Priscilla, from drowning when we were passing through the lower territory of Junon." A smile formed on her face. "And Matilda was just as nice as she was all those years ago."

"Alright, no 'fallen comrades' to look out for in that case, either..." Reno contemplated out loud. "Any other missions?"

Yuffie had to think about it for a few minutes, but she honestly couldn't think of _one _that would've resulted in an enemy hell-bent on hurting her purely for revenge. "I can't remember the specifics." She shook her head a few times. "But I can tell ya that the most recent one was...oh, there was another one was in Junon, too! I totally forgot about it, nyuk!!"

Reno looked apprehensive. "How recent was this mission?"

"It was...let's see...I missed Denzel's birthday because of it, so that would've made it..." she started counting off fingers, one by one, "four and a half months ago. Yeah."

"Shit," he cursed, leaning forward to wipe his face with one of his hands anxiously. "What did you do on this one?"

"Just a casual beat-down of some stupid assholes. They liked to call themselves a gang, I think. Trying to do some drug and weapon deals, or something illegal like that. I forget what they named themselves, though. It was probably some dumbass name, like-"

"Yuffie, you are an idiot!" Reno cut her off angrily.

"What!?"

Reno groaned, face-palming once more and trying to set his face in a calm expression before looking at Yuffie again. "Just how many of those thugs did you take care of, kid?"

"All but..." Yuffie trailed off, her eyes widening into huge saucers. "Oh...oh, _SHIT!_"

"Lemme guess," the redhead sighed. "Every single guy...except one." He shook his head in annoyance. "That was the one who _just_ happened to get away."

Yuffie nodded nervously. "Mmhmm." She stood up and started to pace around. "But this can't be that big of a deal, right? I mean, _come on_! I'm the _GREAT NINJA YUFFIE_, for crap's sake!"

Reno rolled his eyes. "No one's invincible." His tone had become deathly serious. Yuffie's stomach performed yet another cartwheel at the mere sound of it. He was starting to sound as though he...as though he actually _cared_. That thought scared Yuffie more than anything else. And she had no idea why.

"If you really are so _great_, then why did this guy manage to escape right through the WRO's hands?" he snapped.

The ninja crossed her arms sheepishly. "We...I just...He-"

"Don't try to come up with some lame-ass excuse, Yuffie. Just admit that you messed up." He stood up quickly and was eye-to-eye with her in less than three strides. "And that maybe, just maybe, you'll need a little bit of help for once."

"...So let's say that I _did_ need help..." Yuffie stated slowly. "This is purely hypothetical, of course!" She quickly added when she saw Reno's triumphant smirk start to appear on his face. "But...okay, well...what could you even do? The WRO never managed to ID the jerk, I don't know where he is, and to be perfectly honest, I have no clue what he looks like, either. They were all wearing ski-masks and hoods at the time!"

Reno nodded slowly, absorbing each of her statements in turn. "Number one: be on your guard. Number two: _tell Reeve. _And number thr-"

"I am _not _telling Reeve!!" she cut him off with her exclamation, putting her hands on her hips in the trademark stance. "I thought we already went over this."

He nodded again. "Sure, we did. But I changed my mind. Tough shit, kid."

"Gawd!" she screamed, slapping him on the chest and pushing him back as hard as she possibly could. He staggered back a few paces and she had to contain her joy at the tiny success. "Number one: you gave me your word, Turk! And number two: _I have a goddamn name! _And it is not _kid_!"

Reno smirked at her reaction. "Fine." He walked forward again to stare her down. "_Yu-ffie_." The way he said her name sent chills down her spine. Even though he was probably mocking her at the moment. "You need to tell Reeve."

She shook her head adamantly. "No!"

"If you don't, then I will," he shot back with another smirk.

"You wouldn't."

"Yeah, I would."

"If you did, you'd be putting a lot at stake, Turkey," she replied matter-of-factly.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!?" Reno's brow furrowed in confusion as he crossed his arms.

Yuffie let out a few mischievous laughs. "Weeellll...I know where you live now, Turkbrain! Put two and two together and you'll have your answer."

"You know..." Reno started, completely closing the distance between them. "For an amateur ninja with a knack for stalking people...that sounded incredibly suggestive."

Yuffie gasped, instantly blushing and looking away from Reno – looking at anything _but _Reno. "Your thick head's always in the gutter, ya idiot. That's not what I meant!"

"Well, I knew it was one of two things. Either you'd sneak in here late at night to screw my brains out," - Yuffie's blush darkened more, if it was even possible - "or to slit my throat while I slept. I guess I just hoped it was the first one."

_HOPED!? What the freakin' hell!?_

She had to clear her throat because she feared it would sound squeaky, high-pitched and nervous if she hadn't done so. Not like she cared how she sounded in front of Flameball, though. "I'll leave you wondering on that one, then."

_What...What the hell!? Why am I flirting!? Why is HE flirting!?!?_

Her internal conflict never seemed to stop. The questions kept coming. But she kept ignoring them.

"Maybe I don't want to be left hanging..." he murmured as he leaned in closer. And closer. And closer...

Yuffie saw him shut his eyes, and she did the same, mostly out of pure anticipation. Was he about to kiss her? Did she care?

Why the hell didn't she care!?

…

…

…

She felt his hot breath on her lips. They were nearly touching her own. Just a few more seconds and---

"KUPOPOPOPO!!"

Yuffie jumped backwards a foot, tripping over a random shoe on the ground and falling – rather unceremoniously – onto her butt. "GAWD!" Moggy's sudden shout had scared the shit out of her. But she'd never admit it. Ever. At least, not to Reno. Definitely not to Reno. "Eh...heheh...that stupid shoe came outta nowhere!" she randomly blurted out, quickly jumping up to rub her sore behind. "Time for bed, Moggy! Right? Right. Okay, goodnight! Thanks for the help and everything, Turkey, but I'm pretty tired, so...uh...YEAH, goodnight!"

She darted over to the kitchen table, grabbed Moggy and the letter, then ran straight to the door that she knew led into Reno's room. It was the only place of escape. It was her only choice. Other than the bathroom, she mentally added. _Gross..._

She swung the door open quickly and slammed it shut behind her, leaning back against it to catch her breath. "Oh, _gawd_...what did I just do!?"

A few moments later, she heard Reno let out a heavy sigh from the other room. "Guess I'll be sleepin' on the couch, then..." she heard him mutter to himself.

Yuffie had to clamp her hand over her mouth to calm herself down. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to scream. She wanted to blurt out all of her thoughts to any person that would listen – the closest person just happened to be Reno – which was exactly why she had to remove herself from his company!

She didn't want to say it out loud.

Gawd, she could _never _say it out loud.

She was starting to...well, she was starting to think that she liked Reno.

She liked Reno.

RENO! Of all people...

"I like Reno..." she whispered with a small smile.

...Maybe she could say it out loud, after all.

Moggy simply looked up at her. "Kupo!" she squeaked happily.

In that moment, Yuffie had never been more confused by what Moggy had voiced. Because to her...it had sounded remarkably like the moogle had just shouted out, _"DUH!"_

She shook her head a few times. "Fine, Moggy. I. Like. Reno. Happy now?"

The moogle nodded several times before darting over to Reno's bed, motioning for Yuffie to follow. "Kupopopo."

Yuffie snuggled into the warm sheets, sighing contentedly. Tomorrow was definitely going to be a confusing day, but for right now, she felt happy. "I like Reno...?" she mumbled to herself, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

^O^...^O^...^O^...^O^

**Okay, yes this was very short. But it was very necessary. The next one will be longer, I promise.**

**Speaking of which...I am SO SORRY for the delayed update! It's been awhile...please don't lose faith in me, guys. I just had a busy couple of months. :( It's all in control now, though.**

**Anyway, hopefully this chappie didn't get too fluffy.**

**Let me know what ya thought. REVIEW PLEASE!?**

**AND THANKS FOR READING!! XD**


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